get your armor

R.I.P. Michael

I can't believe he's really gone... I admire his music and his dancing style so much....there are so many artists out today who wouldn't have careers if it weren't for him.

R.I.P. Michael. You will be missed.

Broken-Hearted Girl

I've loved this song since the I Am.... Sasha Fierce album came out, and I've been waiting for this video since FOREVER but.... I am so DISAPPOINTED.  I had really high expectations for this one, and they were definitely not met. : (

River Deep, Mountain High

Artist Spotlight: Tamia

Artist Spotlight: Prince

I Met Sheila E!!!

I met Sheila E. at my job today! I've been a fan of hers since i was in diapers! She is so nice and so humble! She took a picture with me, and she hugged me twice!! If you don't know who she us, here is her bio:




Sheila Escovedo was born into a musical family. The eldest child of Pete and Juanita Escovedo (she has two brothers, Juan and Peter Michael, and one sister, Zina), she started playing with the family instruments at the age of 3.

Sheila was obviously influenced by her father Latin jazz legend and timbalero Pete Escovedo (then band leader of the influential band Azteca) while watching him rehearse. At 5 years old, she made her concert "debut" at the former Sands Ballroom in Oakland, as she was invited on stage by her father to play a solo in front of an audience of 3,000. At that moment, Sheila knew exactly what she wanted to do: she was going to be a percussionist.

From age 17, Sheila has recorded and toured extensively with renowned artists such as Babyface, Billy Cobham, Natalie Cole, George Duke, Pete Escovedo, Gloria Estefan, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Nicks, Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper, Prince, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, Tito Puente, Don Was, Stevie Wonder and countless others, but to name a few.

In 1983, Sheila caught the attention of Prince and changed her name to "Sheila E.," and Prince helped her record her first solo album, "The Glamorous Life." The first single from the album, "The Glamorous Life," written, performed, and directed by Sheila E., was released in the spring of 1984 and earned popular and critical acclaim. This single went on to receive multiple Grammy and American Music Award nominations, and won MTV's Best Video Award. "The Glamorous Life" yielded a hit single in the title track, and another hit for its follow-up single, "The Belle of St. Mark."

After three months of sold out performances in Europe and the United States, Sheila began touring as the opening act for Prince's 1984-85 sold out Purple Rain Tour, all while composing her follow-up album, "Romance 1600." Released in August of 1985, "Romance 1600" raced up the charts with its mega-single "A Love Bizarre." A three-month engagement opening for Lionel Richie followed a headlining tour in the spring, 1986, of which a video of her March 1986 San Francisco performance (called "Romance 1600 Live") was later that year released.

In 1986, Sheila made her acting debut in the motion picture "Krush Groove," and contributed the song "Holly Rock" to its soundtrack. Soon after, she released her third album entitled "Sheila E.," which included yet another smash single, "Hold Me," which went to #1 on Billboard's chart and had a fast-growing international reputation. Instead of touring to support her own album, however, Sheila joined Prince's band, playing drums and percussion, for his European tour supporting his album "Sign o' the Times," a tour that Rolling Stone Magazine readers rated as the 15th best tour in music history. Showing her strong family roots and love for Latin jazz, she joined her father, Pete, and fellow Latin jazz legend, the great Tito Puente, on a special concert which deviated from the pop and funk music she had become popular playing. Later released on video and CD as "Latina Familia," the performance showcased her skills as a virtuoso musician. In 1988 and 1989, Sheila toured again with Prince on his "Lovesexy" World Tour, playing drums and percussion.

In the following year, she appeared in the Andrew Dice Clay comedy "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" and in 1991, released her fourth CD, "Sex Cymbal." The CD, which was largely produced by her younger brother Peter Michael, included two singles accompanied by brilliant videos: the title track, and "Droppin' Like Flies."

After taking several years off for health reasons, Sheila's next project, the E-Train, started in 1994. The band that played a mixture of soul, Latin jazz, funk, fusion and gospel toured in Europe in 1994, and finally released a CD, entitled "Writes of Passage" in 1998.

In 1998, Sheila became the first female bandleader on late night television on Magic Johnson's variety show "The Magic Hour," and she co-wrote and co-produced the late night show's theme song.

Sheila has played on countless albums, including the soundtrack to "Prince of Egypt," featuring Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, successful Japanese artist Namie Amuro (whom she also toured with in 1996 and 2002) and Gloria Estefan's hugely successful "Mi Tierra."

Among her other notable appearances, Sheila performed at the 35th Annual Academy Awards with the incomparable Placido Domingo, the 1996 Summer Olympics and was featured in the "all girl" Grammy production opening number featuring Ellen DeGeneres. Other notable performances included MTV Unplugged with Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, and "The Concert of The Americas," where past and present U.S. Presidents and their families were in attendance. Appeared as "featured artist" with Jennifer Lopez on her promotional tour in 1999. Performed with Prince, Wendy & Lisa at the 2006 Brit Awards with a viewing audience of over 20 million, appeared with Prince at the 2007 ALMA Awards, with Juan Luis Guerra at the 8th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, and with Gloria Estefan at the 2008 Emmy Award-winning television event and music celebration Idol Gives Back.

In 2004 Sheila joined Prince on the "Musicology" tour, which was seen by 1.5 million people. She also performed "The Glamorous Life" at the 7th Annual VH1 Divas, a benefit concert for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation that was televised worldwide, and appeared on the TBN network show "Praise The Lord" that received the highest ratings of the season. In 2005 Sheila was a Featured Artist and Musical Director for her first gospel tour "Sisters In The Spirit" featuring Yolanda Adams, Martha Munizzi, Kelly Price, Juanita Bynum and RiZen. In the summer of 2006 Sheila returned for the third time and toured in concert with the legendary Ringo Starr. In 2006 Sheila founded her all girl group C.O.E.D. (Chronicles Of Every Diva) featuring Sheila E., Rhonda Smith, Kat Dyson, and Cassandra O'Neal, who went on their highly acclaimed first European tour in March 2007 with special guest Dutch sax player Candy Dulfer. In 2007, Sheila was chosen as one of the celebrity judges for American Idol Spin-Off "The Next Great American Band."

Founder and president of HEAVEN PRODUCTIONS MUSIC, a music production company, Sheila and company has been hired to direct and arrange music for the ALMA Awards (1998 & 1999), The 1998 WoW Awards, 1998 Gospel Music Association's annual event, and the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. She co-hosted ABC's Countdown To the American Music Awards with Wayne Brady, hosted 10 episodes of VH1's Arsenio Jams, and appeared as a celebrity judge for NBCs Americas Most Talented Kids Finals. In 2003 she wrote, recorded and taped a montage for the World Series in Baseball.

Currently, Sheila, a philanthropist, continues to devote her talents and time to the Elevate Hope Foundation (EHF), a charitable organization (which she is co-founder and co-chair) that assists the needs of abused and abandoned children through music therapy. Despite the demands of her commitment to making music, she maintains a heavy involvement in the organization. "There are so many kids who need our help," she says, "And we're trying to help them get their lives together by building their confidence through music and the arts. It's just another way for me to do God's will, another reason for living. I believe we are here to help people in this lifetime. We must give something of ourselves to truly live." Sheila E. and EHF have presented countless events to raise money for the foundation.

Besides her charitable work through the Elevate Hope Foundation, Sheila performed on USA For Africa's "We Are the World," for African famine relief. She contributed her rendition of "Mary Had A Little Lamb" to the Pediatric Aids Foundation with 6 million CDs and videos sold worldwide for the project "For Our Children." Received rave reviews for her riveting performance at the APLA (Aids Project Los Angeles) benefit with Barbra Streisand, Patti LaBelle, Natalie Cole, Shirley Mac Laine, and Liza Minnelli. Was honored for her contribution and dedication to the community, and received the Imagen Foundation's Humanitarian Award, Angels Across America Award, The Prism Lifetime Achievement Award, Woman Of The Year Award, and Women Of Soul Award which were all presented for her work through the Elevate Hope Foundation.

Her enthusiasm for "passing it on" to a new generation of players led her to design "The Sheila E. Player's Series", a new line of percussion instruments for kids with TOCA Kaman Music. The latest adult percussion Custom Series "Class E" line was also developed.

Her last CD release "Heaven" is an enchanting combination of adult contemporary, funk, jazz and inspirational tracks. For a list of her albums, singles, videos and recordings for other artists visit the discography.

Most recently, Sheila E. participated in the third season of CMT's hit show, "Gone Country." With the goal of creating a hit country music single, each "Gone Country" cast member is uprooted to Nashville for an intense two-week challenge. Justin Guarini, Taylor Dayne, George Clinton, Tara Conner, Richard Grieco, and Micky Dolenz competed on the third season along with Sheila E. Each celebrity was paired with two of Nashville's finest songwriters with whom they wrote a country single. In addition to meeting with songwriters, the cast competed in challenges that tested them musically and physically to adapt to a life in country music, both on and off the stage. Sheila E. was the Grand Prize Winner of the third season and has gone on to release her first country single & video for her song, "Glorious Train."

Sheila E. is indeed a multi-faceted drummer, percussionist, vocalist, songwriter, performer, arranger, producer, composer, instrumentalist and humanitarian. Her gifts have brought joy on the world and have made her one of today's brightest talents, and she continues to be one of our most treasured stars.

Artist Spotlight: Corinne Bailey Rae

It's Friday Night....

.....and I'm sitting at home by myself watching 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders Of The Eighties on VH-1. Why? Because my boyfriend doesn't get off work until 10. I can't wait to see him.... I need some peen. Even though we had a quickie this morning. : )  I love him so much, I'm so glad we're back together. I love falling asleep in his arms, kissing him , and spending time with his children. I love how he interacts with his kids..... It's actually one of the reasons why I fell in love with him.  I really feel like we're starting to come together as a real family. 

My leg is getting better. I put on my toe shoes this morning, and I actually could stand on my toes without my leg hurting. Out of all my dance classes, I miss ballet the most. I take jazz, hip-hop, tap, modern street styles, and ballet. I feel the most connected to the ballet classes because I've been taking them since I was 3 years old.  Hopefully I will be able to attend my classes again starting next week. 

I've been eating pretty well.... no binging and purging, no more starving myself, and I've been attending therapy. I'm really happy about getting better. I still have thoughts about losing weight, but I just push them out. I still do tons of sit-ups, because I'm so not trying to have a pudge while I'm rocking my bikini this summer, no ma'am. 

I'm really feeling this video this week. 

That is all.

Peace and Blessings

vixen

Artist Spotlight: Sade

Rehab

I fucking LOVE this song!



Rehab- Rihanna

I will be back with a real post later on.

peace and blessings,

vixen

Let's Give 'Em Something To Talk About

***this title has nothing to do with this post! cool points to whoever can tell me what song the title comes from!***

Tag! I'm it!
I've been tagged teamed by Curvy Girl and Songstress! (Hey girls! Love you long time!)

here are the rules:

here goes!

1. I eat 3 to 5 apples a day. I love apples.
2. I'm really horny. (TMI? Oh well! This is my blog, damnnit!)
3. I love this video
4. I love black nail polish even though my ex hates when I wear it.
5. I want to meet Maya Angelou. I love her poetry, and I feel a connection to her because our life stories are so similar.
6. My favorite movie of all time is Purple Rain. Gotta love that Prince! Sexy, sexy.

7. I own over 40 lip glosses.

I'm tagging anyone who wants to do this.

I know I've been gone for a while.....the world of Little Miss Vixen is quite crazy these days. My sister got an apartment! YAY! I'm so proud of her! I'm glad she moved out of my place but I'm missing my nieces and my nephew something fierce. I miss them sleeping in my bed with me. I love those kids so much...it's like I gave birth to them, lol.

Oh damn I almost forgot! I saw my father again the week of my uncles funeral. It was at the party my family had to celebrate my uncles life. Bad experience. He ignored my sister and I the whole time. And this shit right here is the fucking shocker: he has a 7 year old son. He actually takes care of this little boy and is involved in his life. Wow. This was my our first time meeting the little dude, and honestly I could care less about the little boy. The whole time we were at the party our father ignored us. I was trying to be strong for my sister, and it took every ounce of strength in my body for me not to walk up to my father and slap the cowboy shit outta him. I was so hurt....everytime he looked at the little boy, his eyes would just light up with unconditional love for the kid. He never looked at my sister and I like that ever in our lives. I'll be honest...that hurt like hell. Ugh.

The ex and I had a lengthy text discussion on Friday night. Here's how it went down:
ex: I've been doing alot of thinking since the day you broke up with me.
vixen: Thinking about what?
ex: I've been trying to figure out why you ended things.
vixen: Because I felt like you were cheating on me.
ex: I never cheated on you.

*****SWEET DAMN!!! He never cheated. I've been missing his ass something fierce****

Guys, he sounded so sincere when he said it. I want to believe him, but the insecure side of myself tells me that I should'nt. He wants us to get back together. Why is love so confusing? Anywhos, I ended up staying the night with him on Saturday. There was no sex invovled! (Which is why I'm so horny now, lol!) We just talked, spooned, and cuddled. I love that man so much. Love is so complicated!

These are the songs I'm feeling this week:
Energy by Keri Hilson



Is It A Crime (live) by Sade


Till It Happens To (live) by Corinne Bailey Rae

Peace and Blessings,
vixen

I'm Going Through Changes....

Hi everybody! As you can see, I gave my blog a total makeover. I changed the title, got a new background, and somehow in the process I lost half of my fucking blogroll. I will be back with a real post soon. For now, I will leave you with some of my favorite videos to keep you entertained.

Peace and Blessings,

vixen


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Guilty Pleasures, Barack Obama, And A Meltdown Of Epic Proportions

Hey hey hey everybody! Did you miss me? Of course you did! LOL. I missed you guys too! Babies, vixen's exhausted.

I just want to stop and take a moment to tell you guys how happy your comments make me! You have no idea how much I look forward to reading them. I appreciate you guys for coming by my blog, and here's a big ol' HI! to all my new readers...adding you to the blogroll soon. : )

So I know you guys are wondering if I'm eating, and yes, I am. I had to. I was so weak it was to the point where I felt nauseous everytime I bent down to tie my shoes. I'm taking it slow because I know that I can't be cured overnight....this is really hard for me. I've had the urge to throw up everytime I eat but I'm fighting it. I can't let this eating disorder kill me. I went to my eating disorder support group meeting on Thursday night, and Victoria was there. She is the coolest white girl ever! I can tell we're going to be really good friends.

Um...what else? There's not too much going on in the life of vixen. Things with my twin sister are getting a little better. She's trying to do better with the kids, but I'm still doing a majority of the brunt work. Why, you ask? Because I love my neices and my nephew and I want them to have the best. The other night my 5 year old nephew said to me, 'auntie why do you work so much?' and it was then that I realized that I'm doing this for them. I love those kids more than the air I breathe.


Now, on to Mr. Barack Obama!!! I live in Nashville, and he's in town today! They blocked the street where my job is so that he can get to the debate tonight, and I saw him! Yep, you read right! I saw BARACK O-FREAKIN-BAMA!!! He waved at me from his car!!! AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! I almost had a freakin heart attack I was so excited that he waved that me! That man is just brilliant, amazing, talented, and beautiful! He's the father I've always wanted. Seeing him made my whole day and it really gave me hope that things are going to change in our country. He's going to be a great president. AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH I can't believe that brilliant man waved at me!

Anywhos..... I had a meltdown of epic proportions after I left work last night. I was thinking about how much my life has changed since I'm not with him anymore. He was my first boyfriend. Breaking up is so hard to do. It just hit me like a ton of bricks....wow, it's really over. I cried so much last night. I get a pain in my chest everytime I think about him. I miss being his girlfriend so much. *plays 'Can't Let Go' by Mariah Carey*

On to more fun things......
This is a list of songs that I consider to be my gulity pleasure songs. (This is a music blog, after all!)

What are your guilty pleasures? Musically and otherwise? Let me know in the comments!

Peace and Blessings,
vixen

My Girl Crush And The VMA's

Guess who's back...back again...vixens back...lol!

Did anybody watch the VMA's? I will be the first to admit that I didn't. I missed it which I guess is a good thing because everybody in the blogsphere is saying that it sucked! But I was so happy to hear that my NUMBER ONE GIRL CRUSH, Leona Lewis was on with Lil Wayne. Now, I'm not a big Lil Wayne fan (Lollipop is the most overrated, overplayed song EVER. Now that I think about it, his new album is overrated too.) But anyways, here is Leona, Lil Wayne, and T-Pain's peformance. (Sidenote: I am not posting this because I like the whole performance, I'm posting this because I love Leona's part. Lil Wayne and T-Pain are not real musicians in my opinion.)


Now, more about my girl crush....

I know you guys are tired of hearing me talk about her, but I seriously love Leona Lewis! She can sing her ass off, and her album is so amazing! Not to mention that she's freaking BEAUTIFUL! I would've posted some pics of her but blogger is acting a damn fool and won't let me put up any pics. So these are my fave songs off her album:



What do you guys think after taking a listen? Don't you think her voice is insane? Well, I do, and if you don't then frankly you suck, lol. Nah I'm kidding but if you don't like her voice then something must be wrong with your ears, ya dig? :)

I got to see the ex's 9 month old daughter Monday while I was at work. That made me so happy because I hadn't seen her since the day we broke up. I love that little girl...the hardest thing about this breakup is not seeing his kids (he has a 10 year old son also) because I got attached to them too. Breaking up is hard to do...

So Monday while I was at work, I found some British guys wallet, and it was FULL of 100, 50, and 20 dollar bills. Me being the good samaritan that I am, I turn the wallet in to my boss. Well the guy comes back for his wallet, and my boss tells him that I found it but the rude bastard doesn't tell me thank you, kiss my ass or anything! How screwed up is that?!? I told my mom and she was like 'you dumb as hell, I would have took all the cash out of the dudes wallet' , lol. That's my mom for ya.

I will be back later on this week. Try not to miss me!

Peace and Blessings,
vixen