Stepping out for the charitable organization's annual celebration, Selena Gomez and Eva Longoria were among the stars attending The Fulfillment Fund's '2011 Stars Gala' in Beverly Hills, California on Tuesday night (November 1).
Held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, the two lovely ladies joined around 900 guests in honoring Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross and Founders' Humanitarian Award recipients Madeleine and Tom Sherak.
The event was hosted by actor Jason Segel and Kermit the Frog while featuring entertainment from Sinbad and a live performance by "The Lion King" theatrical cast.
As for the cause, the Fulfillment Fund provides first-generation, low-income students with the support necessary to graduate from high school and go on to college.
"At the Fulfillment Fund, we help Los Angeles students overcome obstacles to pursuing the dream of a life-changing college education," said Fulfillment Fund CEO Andrea Cockrum. "We're so fortunate to have so many extraordinary supporters who are dedicated to helping promising youth from high-poverty communities stay on the path to higher education."
Wale puts his mind to work in a new interview for the latest issue of "ROLLING OUT" magazine. During the in-depth convo, Wale's music career is likened to a game of chess and he reveals this time around, his strategy will help him achieve superstar status.
Get the deets inside and find out why he loves dark "Pretty Girls."
“Ambition is the desire to be better than the people who came before you. It’s your obsession to be good or great. How great is your obsession to chase your dream?”–Wale
In 2008, Wale was expected to become a MAJOR star. He was featured on a huge track with Waka Flocka, "No Hands" and had a good record deal with Interscope....however, the record stalled.
But don't expect his second disc, Ambition to suffer a similar fate. Now that he's hooked up with Rick Ross and the Mayback Music Group, Wale is ready to surpass his fans expectations.
Before the release of your first album, you built an impressive buzz for yourself. So what caused the album to fail to meet the high expectations? I put that on myself to get back to where I need to be. We’re working. I do music for my fans and family. My fans appreciated my first album. But my label didn’t ship it for whatever reason. I re-evaluated my life and my situation and now I’m in a different place. I found out a lot of artists can’t go to a city and do a show with 2,000 people. I’m blessed to have people who appreciate what I do.
So what is the biggest difference in being at MMG vs. being at Interscope? The difference is freedom. I’m very in tune with urban culture. I felt my last situation wasn’t allowing me to grow with the urban culture. They saw a Lady Gaga opportunity and I went with it. I was a new artist and I didn’t get it. I thought I was being ignored by black America. It’s not as much money, but to connect with the people I grew up with is more important than connecting with pop fans. Even the white people who are familiar with my music deserve to hear what I’m really saying. I shouldn’t be marketed toward top 40. When I listen to my first album, you can hear who I am talking to. But I now have an opportunity to change that.
You have a lot of female fans. How important is it for you to balance the risque songs such as “No Hands” with inspirational tracks such as “Diary”? I want to be an advocate for the women. I may say some wild things, but that’s our time to have fun. But I stand for fixing the world our way. Let’s add spice to this and change the world. I believe women should go to school to network with others who will change the world. I’m encouraging. I’m a part of the problem, but I want to be a part of the clean up. “No Hands” is the party and “Ambitious Girls” is the clean up. We can have fun, but I hope you’re getting up and going to class. I don’t want to get in the way of that. That [is] something you have to do. For two years, I had to walk around with about $15 in my account. That was my time. I left school and had to get on my grind. I was about 21. Now show me you can work the system for four or five years and continue to do your thing.
You caught flack from black women for not having dark-skinned females in your “Pretty Girls” video. How did that make you feel? It wasn’t about that, but it showed me what I meant to the black culture. That made me realize that people hold me at a higher regard. That was when I knew I had to make a change. For “Pretty Girls,” I didn’t go on set until there were dark-skinned girls at the video shoot. I was waiting. The most horrible feeling in the world, was that my women think that I don’t care about them. I’d rather go broke than for my black women to think that I don’t care about them. I would rather lose everything than to have my queens think I’m turning my back on them. I was the only kid in my neighborhood with a father. And that’s because I’m African and they don’t divorce. It messed me up. When I was in Mississippi, a girl told me she had her first child at 16. So I made a song called “Illest B—- Alive.” There’s a special place in my heart for black girls. If you’re black and have a black mother, you know how special they are.
Beyond the physical, what is the most attractive thing about a woman? I like girls who can get the intellect popping. Instead of liking me just because I rap, I like girls who can ask about where I was mentally when I thought of making a certain record. I can find a nice amount of girls who think I’m attractive or whatever, but intellect is very important. “Lotus Flower Bomb” was a record that I wanted to create a long time ago. I’m not sure if radio was ready for that at the time. That’s kind of an adult vibe. I was 23 when I was writing my first project. I was doing what I was told to do instead of doing what my heart told me to do.
More pics from the issue:
Determined to win the game of chess, Wale's Ambition drops on Tuesday.
Another celebrity is confirming pregnancy news through social media! At around 4 p.m. on Monday, Jessica Simpson took to her Twitter page to tell her four million-plus followers that she is expecting her first child with fianc� Eric Johnson. "It's true ? I'm going to be a mummy!" she Tweeted, posting a photo of herself dressed up as one for Halloween.
And while Jessica and Eric have long been fixated on tying the knot on November 11, 2011, exactly one year after he proposed, according to a friend, ?Jessica has pulled the plug.?
On October 23, Jessica flew to NYC for what should have been a final fitting for her gown, a friend reveals to In Touch. ?But she took one look at herself in that dress and decided to call off her wedding.? Jessica appears to be utterly set on looking absolutely ?flawless? as she says ?I do? to 32-year-old Eric, even if it means waiting until after she has the baby.
In Touch was the first magazine to break the news that the singer/fashion mogul was pregnant back in September.
When Jacqueline Laurita was a no-show at the recent reunion special for The Real Housewives of New Jersey, fans were stumped about why the brunette ? who has boasted she never shies away from confrontation ? would skip an opportunity to ream out her new enemy Teresa Giudice. But In Touch can reveal that Jacqueline, 41, refused to attend because she was ?terrified? a shocking secret would come to light ? that she was once a Las Vegas stripper!
?She feared that [former castmate] Danielle Staub would make a surprise appearance and tell all about Jacqueline?s stripping past,? an insider tells In Touch. ?She didn?t want to face the truth.?
The truth is a far cry from the luxurious life she leads today. ?At the time, she was a single mom who needed to dance at a club in order to pay her bills,? an insider says, adding that she was saved from the seedy life of exotic dancing when her husband, Chris, met her at the club and they fell in love. Another source shares, ?She has confirmed her stripper past to multiple friends who are covering up for her ? she is telling everyone to deny it!?
Expectant parents, Disney darling Hilary Duff and hockey star Mike Comrie, dressed up as bank robbers on Halloween night (October 31). The happy couple were seen bringing a cake into a party in Los Angeles.
Weezy-featuring 'The Motto' and T.I.'s 'Headlines' freestyle unveiled on L.A. radio Monday. By Rob Markman
Lil Wayne and Drake Photo: Getty Images
With just two weeks until he releases his sophomore album, Take Care,Drake blessed fans in L.A. with new music when he debuted "The Motto" (featuring Lil Wayne) and T.I.'s version of "Headlines" on Power 106 Monday night.
"The Motto" is believed to be Take Care's last bonus track, though a track list on Zune's website has the song as "Untitled."
Regardless of where it will end up and how it will be placed, the Weezy-assisted song is equipped with a deep rolling bass and staccato drums — a real party starter. From the first few bars, Drake throws it up for his YMCMB fam and responds to Luther Campbell's claim that non-Miami natives Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled should pay tithes of some sort considering that they now live in the city. Drake throws a not-so-subtle nod to the 2 Live Crew legend's jabs spitting, "Tell Uncle Luke I'm out in Miami too/ Clubbin' hard, f---in' women, there ain't much to do/ Wrist bling, got a condo up on Biscayne ... ain't sh-- change."
Drake also pays homage to late Vallejo, California, rapper Mac Dre, who was gunned down seven years ago Tuesday (November 1). "I'm in the building and I'm feeling myself, rest in peace Mac Dre/ I'mma do it for the Bay, OK," Drizzy respectfully spits. For the final verse, Wayne utilizes his usual free-associative rhyme pattern with lines like "Talk stupid, off with ya head/ N---a money talks and Mister Ed" and "Ain't sh-- sweet, n---as on the streets like hookers."
For his second premiere of the night, Drake unveiled T.I.'s "Headlines" freestyle. As soon as the beat drops, T.I. makes the beat his own, adding an original flow to the popular beat. "I ball all night, go hard all day, fall deep up in your broad all day," he starts off his verse. "I liked the record and it was spazzin', and I felt like, 'Let's see what I can add to it," T.I. told MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway about his version of "Headlines" when he visited his "Sway in the Morning" radio show on Shade 45 in October.
Since being released from prison in September, T.I. has gotten on a number of high-profile rap songs like Future's "Magic," the Throne's "N---as in Paris" and now Drake's "Headlines," and while each freestyle has been well-received, Tip admits that he wasn't exactly commissioned to jump on the tracks. "None of these people approached me. I did it and got with them [after] and let them know that I did it."
What do you think of Drake's "The Motto" with Lil Wayne, and T.I.'s "Headlines" freestyle? Tell us in the comments!
