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This week’s newsletter is all about things I have watched since the last time we were together. All things I suggest you should check out too.
HBO Max’s Tina Documentary
I watched the new documentary on Tina Turner Tina, and when I finished watching it, I felt sad, hopeful, and inspired. What a life Tina had. More than likely, at this point, we have all seen the biopic on Tina’s life, What’s Love Got to Do With It, where Angela Bassett plays her - quite well, I must say. Tina shares some of those same stories captured in the movie but with more depth, and we get to hear Tina’s perspective as well.
The documentary does a great job at showing photos from Tina’s life, as well as weaving in interviews from people in Tina’s life who have passed away: her son Craig, Ike, and her mother. I also loved how old interviews Tina did were woven in and pieced together with a live interview that she did in 2019 for this documentary.
Tina has a fascinating life filled with pain and sadness, and now happiness, and she was highly resilient with a powerful story to share. I loved these two tweets about the documentary:
And I also left the documentary with a few thoughts that I will keep with me:
The power of faith can get you through your darkest storms.
There’s not an age limit to working towards your goals or following your destiny - and as Elaine Welteroth beautifully said on Instagram live:
We stan a woman who clears EVERY obstacle and makes her dreams come true in her 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.
Your name is your brand. NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT FROM YOU
When things don’t work out, dust yourself off and try again - this is about one of my favorite songs by Tina, “River Deep, Mountain High,” that didn’t resonate with audiences the way it was hoped it would.
HBO Max’s Selena + Chef Series
I’m late on this series because there have been two seasons, but I love it. I have spent much of the pandemic watching cooking shows, learning hella recipes that I still have yet to try. Perhaps it’s the greedy woman in my soul, but they are quite soothing, and this show fits the bill.
Selena Gomez does a Zoom call with a different chef every episode where they cook the same things and have conversations. The funny thing about the show is that Selena really can’t cook that well. She’s always almost cutting her finger or making random edits to the recipes. Every chef that comes on the show, Selena, donates $10K to the charity of their choice, which is a nice addition. This is a very heartwarming and entertaining show.
Also, I would just like to mention that Selena talks like a soothing robot woman.
TV One’s Unsung: Morris Day
If you are not familiar with Morris Day, I suggest watching the episode, but it was so good. The episode took a deep dive into his life before The Time, his somewhat private drug addiction that he was battling, how he got his fly style, and his resurgence. I loved hearing about how he got his style, initially putting his hand in his pocket, leading to hella swag. I didn’t know that Morris started as a drummer either I just thought he knew how to play. He auditioned for a group initially that included Prince, and then Prince put The Time together and suggested Morris become the frontman of the group.
The Time has grooves. I’ve seen them in concert before and did “The Bird” with my mom. I also learned that Terry Lewis was fine back in the day. Lastly, another interesting part was hearing about the dynamic with Prince. Prince has always seemed like a trip, and watching this episode reiterated that for me.
Here are a few good things to listen to or watch:
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Lucky Daye released a new EP Table for Two, and one of the songs I loved the most from the project was “How Much Can a Heart Take,” featuring Yebba. The two just released the video for the music, and it’s too cute.
Maya Rudolph is my girl, and I loved this Beyonce-inspired SNL skit she did.
These Procter & Gamble “Widen the screen” ads are so good and speak to the idea of judging a book by its cover. I’ll be honest, I kind of teared up watching one.
Issa Rae gives a great convo - I loved this podcast episode of the Jemele Hill is Unbothered podcast.
Last week I mentioned Joyce Wrice and her new album, Overgrown. Here’s a cute interview with her for Elle!
Here are a few good things to read:
Say what you want about the Kardashian/Jenner family, but Kris is a master at branding. This article let me know that Kris gets 10% of each brand her kids create, among other exciting things. This means:
Kylie Cosmetics also includes skincare; Kim has her beauty and fragrance brands, plus Skims, her shapewear company; Khloé’s clothing line, Good American; Kourtney’s lifestyle platform, Poosh; Rob’s sock company, Arthur George, as well as his clothing company, Halfway Dead, and hot sauce company, Grandeza Hot Sauce; Kendall’s new tequila brand, 818; and a set of three new Kendall and Kim fragrances that come out March 25. Kris is about to launch Safely, a direct-to-consumer line of plant-based cleaning and self-care products with Chrissy Teigen and Emma Grede (the CEO of Good American), and has recently signed a multiyear deal with the streaming service Hulu, where upcoming Kardashian-Jenner television programming will now live.
Also, just a quick tangent, I think Kris is smart, which I said. She took a sex tape scandal and turned it into a massive brand with one daughter who is now a billionaire. Janet Mock used to have a great podcast, Never Before With Janet Mock, where she interviewed people like Tina Knowles, Crissle of The Read podcast, and... Kris Jenner and that was a fascinating interview. Listen here
I still think it’s weird that Kourtney Kardashian was hanging out with Tik Tok it girl Addison Rae, but I found this article about how influencers shape the beauty industry to be very interesting.
That’s it for this week. Since it popped up in my head when I was about to schedule this, I’m ending this week’s newsletter with a shout-out to my old favorite song, “Holla At A Playa.” Catch you next week.
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