(Press Relaease) Atlantic Recording artist Diggy (website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube)  was among the winners at this year’s (43rd annual) NAACP Image Awards, taking home the trophy for “Outstanding New Artist.” “It’s so humbling to have my first award be an NAACP Image Award. The ceremony focuses on the positive influence on African American culture, so it means so much to me to have one,” says Diggy on being recognized at last week’s ceremony. Additionally, Diggy recently headlined the “The Life Of The Jetsetter Tour,” which wrapped this past weekend in Washington, D.C., which joins his previous two co-headlining tours, the “106th & Park Presents: The Closer To My Dreams Tour” and the “Scream Tour: The Next Generation,” earlier this year. What’s more, “Do It Like You (feat. Jeremih),” the lead single off Diggy’s highly-anticipated debut album, “Unexpected Arrival,” has broken into Billboard’s “Hot 100” chart and is rapidly climbing the chart, while the companion video has nearly 3 million views on YouTube.

VIDEO: Diggy’s “Unexpected Arrival” album trailer
(viewing from your cell? can’t see the video? click here to view directly on YouTube.)

Daniel “Diggy” Simmons has the hip-hop community on the edge of their seats, calling him the “Next Hottest Thing.” In 2010, Diggy teamed up with video director Phil The God to create a viral video that caught the attention of the entire music world. “Flow Stoopid,” a freestyle track over Nas’ “Made You Look,” received instant co-signs from rap heavy hitters ranging from Lupe Fiasco and Kanye West to Common, Quest Love, and Talib Kweli and quickly became an instant viral sensation. In March 2010, Diggy inked a deal with Atlantic Records, and began the road to a successful rap career, establishing himself in the lineage created by his father, Rev. Run and uncle, Russell Simmons.

After releasing his debut single, “Copy, Paste” in May 2011, which shot straight to the top of the 106th and Park countdown, the world is eagerly awaiting what’s next as he puts the finishing touches on his debut album. From being named a member of XXL’s Freshman Class in 2011, to his first BET Awards nomination in the “Young Star Award” category to taking the stage “LIVE” at the 2011 BET Awards Pre-Show, Diggy is undoubtedly the most talked about and sought after young rap superstar. In October, Diggy was nominated for “Rookie of the Year” at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards. Later that month, he released his second single, “Do It Like You (feat. Jeremih),” which shot to the top of the 106th and Park video countdown.

Read all of my blog posts about Diggy - CLICK HERE.

VIDEO: Ifelicious interviews Diggy while on Scream Tour
(viewing from your cell? can’t see the video? click here to view directly on YouTube.)

Related Links

• The YBF- Diggy Simmons reveals ‘Unexpected Arrival’ album trailer
• XXL Mag- Diggy’s ‘Life of the Jetsetter Tour’ lands in NYC
• Vibe- Diggy Simmons gives The Breakfast Club a serious reality check
• International Business Times- Diggy Simmons: 5 Things to Know about ‘The Future of Rap’
• SOHH- Diggy names Top 5 Hottest Albums of 2011
• Richmond Times Dispatch- Diggy Simmons concert canceled

At an age when many of us are still figuring out what we’ll be when we grow up, Jai Rodriguez (Facebook, Twitter) was already landing major roles in Broadway and on TV.  In this final part of my interview with Jai, we reflected on his first big breaks playing the role of Angel Dumott Schunard on award winning Broadway musical ”Rent” and as one of the Fab Five on Bravo TV’s reality makeover show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” (later shortened to “Queer Eye”).  Before wrapping up, we also touched briefly on Jai’s singing career.

Interview

Playing Angel in “Rent”

Danny Blanco ('Collins') and Jai Rodrguez ('Angel') sing 'I'll Cover You' from RENT (source: photobucket.com/Fiyero3305)

VIDEO: MTW’s RENT Jai Rodriguez
(reading from your phone? can’t view the video? CLICK HERE to go directly to the YouTube link.)

At the age of 18, Jai played one of the most iconic roles in an equally iconic Gex X musical as the character Angel, a gay drag queen and musician living with AIDS, in Jonathan Larsen’s “Rent.”  He landed the role just after original cast member Wilson Jermaine Heredia had his Tony Award winning performance and during the musical’s heyday.

Ifelicious:  You’ve had a lot of other early successes, too.  You played the role of Angel in ‘Rent’ when it was on Broadway, and I read that you were the youngest cast member.

Jai:  I played Angel in ‘Rent’ at a time when the show was really new, and there were still people leaping in the streets.  It was a big part of pop culture- a Pulitzer Prize winning show and Angel being a Tony Award winning role.  It was a lot of pressure for an 18 year old.  That’s how old I was when I got the part.  While other people are in college, I was doing eight shows a week, and so I never really slowed down because during ‘Rent,’ during those 5 years, I would leave and do a play.  I would leave and do a movie.  I would leave and do a soap.  I would always come back and ‘Rent’ was like home base.  I’m so grateful to the producers for letting me sort of keep ‘Rent’ as my waiter gig, so to speak, after the first couple of years.  It was a really wonderful time, and for me, it’s a time I look back at fondly because ‘Queer Eye’ was three years that I worked on the show, and ‘Rent’ was five.  It was the most defining five years of my life.

Ifelicious:  I was a big Rent-head back then and still kind of am.  I’ve seen the play many times.  It’s ridiculous!

Jai:  I’m actually dying to see it in New York now that it’s off-Broadway which I think is where it always should’ve been for a show that’s so intimate.

Ifelicious:  That would be cool to go back and just do that kind of quietly, just go back and sit and watch and maybe not even announce your presence.

Smoke and Mirrors for “Queer Eye”

VIDEO: Vegas Interview with Jai, Part 1

Jai was able to put his own spin as “Queer Eye”‘s Culture Vulture to land him a permanent spot as part of the Fab Five; yet, he’s the first to tell you that he wasn’t and isn’t adept when it comes to the fashion and design realm.  “The only thing I’ve had any training in is as an actor and as a singer.  Even though ‘Queer Eye’ introduced me to the world as some culture savant, the truth of the matter is, at the time, I was performing on Broadway which is my only training,” explained Jai.  As a gay male, the likely popular assumption of viewers was that he was obviously is an expert, but just like that lady in the Straight Talk commercial with her cornish game hens and endive salad (“no, it’s absolutely pronounced endive” LOL!), that couldn’t be further from Jai’s truth.

Jai:  The role wasn’t a well defined, crafted job description when it was presented to me.  I was a replacement.  They fired someone before me.  So, obviously, someone before me quote-unquote ‘got it wrong’ and so it was really about the chemistry of the five guys.  I made the conscious decision to just be the guys’ best wing man because, much like the straight guy, I didn’t know half the shit these guys were trying to teach him…For those 3 years on the show, I got to learn so much about fashion design, food, and grooming.  Obviously, those lessons are still with me and I have much more of an affinity for those things now…I was 10 years younger than the guys, so I haven’t even caught up to the age that they were when we started, if that puts it in perspective.  I think now, I would have so much to offer versus 10 years ago.

Ifelicious:  I would imagine that it’s been hard to shake your ‘Queer Eye’ persona.  For me, writing about pop culture, if I want to tell people about a person, I revert to, ‘You know this guy?  Ya, you do.  He’s from ‘Queer Eye’’ or whatever.  I’m sure you want to move away from ‘Queer Eye’ as your sole defining moment.

Jai:  I try to honor it.  I try to honor the fact that it was a first all gay cast.  I try to honor the fact that I won an Emmy for [Outstanding Reality Program in 2004] and a New York Times bestseller for it, but also hold onto that I was the only person on the show without any true credentials in the field when I was working on the show…When people say, ‘How do I know you?’  I know it’s ‘Queer Eye’…even though, I did 100 episodes of ‘Queer Eye,’ and I’ve probably done 150 of other shows since then…

…Being on a reality show like that, people think you’re a fashion expert, that you’re a style and taste-maker, and that couldn’t be any further from the truth.  Could I go there as an actor?  Could I go to that place and be a fashionista that’s cool and hip and talk about it?  Yes, it’s imbedded in me…Would I want to?  Is it my passion?  Absolutely not…I struggled with fears and was depressed a lot because I thought I was the one guy on the show who was not able to show America what it was that I was talented at.  That was a struggle when all of the boys were parlaying ‘Queer Eye’ into something professionally after.  I almost had to denounce ‘Queer Eye,’ personally, here to work as an actor.  That was really tricky because I didn’t want to seem ungrateful.

Music: Broken to Twisted

VIDEO: “Broken” by Jai Rodriguez

We closed out our conversation speaking briefly about Jai’s musical career, although his music alone could be an interview unto itself.  To date, he’s released an album entitled “Broken” on Airgo Music, but he’s performed as a singer for years.  He’s currently revived his “Twisted Cabaret” music night that he used to do at XL in New York City on Tuesday nights at Revolver in West Hollywood.

Ifelicious:  Now, we didn’t really get to talk about your music so I wanted to ask you about that.  Are you doing anything with that now?

Jai:  I wish I could say that I have been recording or whatever, but I had a really bad experience the last time with the label I was working with.  They were friends, and you know working with friends is always very tricky.  They turned out to be extremely dishonest so I backed away from that whole thing.  Actually, music is one of those things that fills the heart, you know, like the work on film and television pays the paycheck that pays the bills.  In terms of feeding the soul, I just have to sing.  It’s one of those things that I actually have to do.   So, I actually have a night the first and third Wednesday (now every Tuesday) of every month here in West Hollywood.  I do it at a bar called Revolver, and it’s me and three diva girls.  It’s in a video bar so we basically perform in the the style of those videos- top 40 to musical theater stuff, but mostly top 40.  It’s a great night.  I call it ‘Twisted Cabaret.’  It’s just a great night.

Thanks, Jai, for the great interview! Be on the lookout for Jai to guest star in upcoming episodes of NBC’s “Are You There, Chelsea?” and FOX’s “Bones.”  Keep up with Jai by following him on Twitter (@JaiRodriguez) and “liking” his Facebook page.

Related Links

My other blog posts featuring Jai Rodriguez on Ifelicious Thoughts:

• Interview: Jai Rodriguez lands guest role as Matteo on ‘Days of Our Lives’
• Executive Producer Jai Rodriguez talks about ‘Bad Sex’
• Jai Rodriguez speaks of guest role on ‘Are You There, Chelsea?’ and being an LGBT role model

Additional web finds:

• All American Speakers- Bio: Jai Rodriguez (grossly outdated but good resource for early years)
• Mark’s List- Jai Rodriguez interview
• Oasis Magazine- Jai Rodriguez: Interview
• Life Support- Rent (a blog review written in 1998)
• Living Large with Miss Finesse- Miss Finesse interviews Jai Rodriguez
• Playbill.com- Zanna and ‘Queer Eye’ star Jai Rodriguez is Xposed at Jan. 31 concert
• Happy Hour with Adam Sandel- Jai Rodriguez: Reality Bites
• Jim Straz’s Hollywood Giants- Jai Rodriguez is becoming a drag queen-first photos of new look
• VIDEO- Fab Five on the WB11 News
• VIDEO- The Fab Five on ‘Ellen’

It’s nearly the end of February, and I’m starting to hit that wall on my new year’s resolutions.  Someone on Facebook asked me recently, what’s my secret to pushing through that wall?  Honestly, I don’t have one.  You’ve just got to want something more than you want to give up.  Music is a great source of inspiration in that regard.  As I’m dragging through today trying to make sure those end of the week loose ends are tied up in a nice bow, I found myself singing the chorus from the 80s song “Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder, from his album “I Don’t Speak the Language,” on replay in my head.  It’s actually a song about a lost love, but the chorus applies equally to getting through heartbreak and moving on as it would anything else we might be pushing through in our lives.

Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride
Nobody’s gonna slow me down, oh-no
I got to keep on moving
Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride
I’m running and I won’t touch ground
Oh-no, I got to keep on moving

Like I try to do for most of the Throwback Friday posts, I did a little homework on Matthew Wilder.  He’s had an amazing career beyond his 1983 “Break My Stride” pop-reggae song.  Matthew has been a singer, songwriter, producer and so much more over the years.  His name is behind Christina Aguilera’s break out hit “Reflection” that was featured on the Disney “Mulan” soundtrack.  Since then, he’s worked with numerous pop artists including Selena Gomez, Stevie Wonder, No Doubt, 98 Degrees, Kelly Clarkson and many more.  He’s also composed numerous songs for other films and TV series.  Recently, he’s worked on producing for the new band The Belle Brigade and writing the soundtrack for a Broadway musical adaption of the Anne Rice novel “Cry to Heaven.”

Check out this November 2011 “When Magazine” Blog Talk Radio interview with Matthew Wilder:

“Break My Stride” certainly has continued to have a life of his own. It’s been covered by a wide array of artists over the years from Matisyahu to Diddy.  Here’s this week’s Throwback Friday song. I hope you add it to your playlists and remind yourself to keep the momentum going on those new year’s resolutions.

VIDEO: “Break My Stride” by Matthew Wilder
(trying to view from your phone? can’t get the video to work? CLICK HERE to watch it directly on YouTube).

VIDEO TEASER 1

Fashionable Moms from Big Fuel on Vimeo.

VIDEO TEASER 2

Fashionable Mom Show – Teaser 2 (with Iman) from Big Fuel Studio on Vimeo.

NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2012 — On Thursday, February 16 at 3pm, the first-ever Strut: The Fashionable Mom Show (Facebook, Twitter, Twitter Hashtag #strutmoms), will premiere as part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery at New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, hosted by mom and model Iman [Abdulmijad] (Twitter), with a collection of designers who are realistic for today’s moms.

Iman

“As a mother of two and a fashion industry veteran, I am thrilled to host Strut: The Fashionable Mom Show at Lincoln Center this season,” said Iman. “Balancing my family and business lives has always been a priority for me, and I am proud to support other women striving to do the same.”

Denise Albert and Melissa Gernstein of The Moms

Denise Albert and Melissa Gerstein of The Moms (Twitter), a multi-platform lifestyle brand, were looking to showcase everyday fashion for moms with different styles, different jobs and different lives.

“Like so many women in the workforce, we altered our paths once we had kids,” said Albert. “One thing that stayed true was our love of fashion.”

“When you are a mom you take all the focus off yourself and channel it towards your children. The creation of our show is to help moms reclaim their sense of style with affordable and transformable looks that are wearable throughout the day,” said Gerstein. “When you look good, you feel good!”

Together with Mom-entum, a division within social media agency, Big Fuel and Getting Gorgeous, two top fashion and beauty bloggers, as partners, The Moms brought the idea to Lincoln Center Fashion Director and IMG Consultant Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, also a mom, who instantly loved the concept, and was paramount in bringing the show center stage at the most important fashion event of the year.

“I have spent nearly two decades immersed in the fashion industry and have been a mother for about half that time,” said Winston Wolkoff. For me, the worlds of fashion and motherhood are inextricably connected, but navigating a balance between the two to make personal style effortless and functional, without sacrificing on-trend glamour is not always easy.”

In addition, Douglas Hannant has generously donated their runway show set design to be used by Strut: The Fashionable Mom Show following the Douglas Hannant Collection runway. “It’s a wonderful cause and great to be able to pull together and help out,” said Hannant.

Catering to the modern Mom, the show will provide ideas on how to transform an outfit from ‘mommy’ to ‘meeting’ to ‘moms’ night out.’ Moms will be able to tune into the multi-platform event via digital live stream, with simultaneous Twitter feed and real-time blogging.

Holly Pavlika of Mom-mentum

“With 32 million moms online with $2.4 trillion worth of spending power and 66 percent of those moms Facebook, there’s no doubt that fashion, moms and social media are all converging, which is at the core of the thinking behind Strut,” said MOM-entum’s Holly Pavlika (Twitter).

Designers and top consumer brands couldn’t agree more. T.J.Maxx, Marshalls, Matrix, and Clorox and are all top sponsors of the event because they recognize and celebrate the power of mom and her love of beauty and fashion.

Tory Burch, Rachel Roy, Vera Wang, Douglas Hannant, Rebecca Minkoff, Gap, Laundry, Michael Kors, David Meister, Ramy Brook, The Children’s Place, Quinny, BCBG, Monica Botkier, Hatch by Twobirds, A Pea in the Pod, Coldwater Creek, Bela Bum Bum, and Ingrid & Isabel are also celebrating mom and providing looks available in-store and online to be featured on the runway, worn by real moms who truly embody what it means to be a fashionable mom.

Audrey McClelland and Vera Sweeney of Getting Gorgeous

“All the highly social mom models participating in the show will give us a reach to over 4 million online moms in one day,” said Getting Gorgeous founders Audrey McClelland and Vera Sweeney. “We’ve made it our business to connect with top online influencers, and we can’t wait for our designer and brand alliances to do the same.”

For more information, please visit www.thefashionablemomshow.com.

Related Links

• Child Mode- Iman to host the first-ever Mom Fashion Show during Fashion Week in NYC!
• Huffington Post- Moms strut at NYC fashion week

In just a few days, the Style Network’s “Big Rich Texas” will be back for a second season with a few new additions to the cast.  Per the press release:

“The drama is bigger and so is the cast – with the addition of party planner, DeAynni [Hatley], and her two teenage daughters, Shaye [Hatley] and Amber [Hatley]. Needless to say, not all the ladies are thrilled with her arrival and they are not afraid to show it. The conflict between Pam and Leslie continues as Pam follows through on her mission to expose Leslie as a fraud, leaving Leslie’s relationships with best friend Bon and goddaughter Kalyn in jeopardy. As Pam reigns at the top of Dallas’ social ladder, Leslie is more determined than ever to take revenge and destroy Pam once and for all. The drama doesn’t stop at the mothers…both Grace and Maddie are desperate for their independence and will do anything to get it, even if it means they have to lie and sneak around in the process. Whitney and Tyler return from Seattle after a painful breakup, and jealousy turns ugly when Tyler openly flirts with other girls, sending Whitney into a fury that has major consequences.”

DeAynni Hatley, photo credit: poptower.com

Shaye Hatley and Amber Hatley, photo credit: poptower.com

Get ready for “Big Rich Texas” season 2 on Sundays at 9/8c on The Style Network beginning February 19, 2012.

Read all of my blog posts about “Big Rich Texas” - CLICK HERE.

Season 2 Sneak Peek

Related Links

• The Ride- Locked and Loaded: A Q&A with straight shooter Pamela Martin Duarte of ‘Big Rich Texas’
• Cinderella’s Glass Closet- Preview ‘Big Rich Texas’ season 2: Some spoilers included + A MUST READ!!
  
• Dallas Voice- Season 2 of ‘Big Rich Texas’ premieres Feb. 19