Solange Covers COMPLEX Mag + New Video!

Don't sleep on Solange. After trying the major record label route for a while, she made the switch to indie artist and her last EP, True, is her best release yet. After years of hard work, it's all finally coming together for her. But that doesn't mean there wasn't hardships along the way, whether it be label issues, the challenges of finding the perfect producer, or balancing music and motherhood. Still, she's as authentic as they come, unwilling to bend or break.

With this being her first Complex cover, we knew we had to capture the essence of a strong, powerful woman. So we called on the visionary photographer team JUCO for a sexy but classy cover shoot that had the Houston native hot in her heels. Meanwhile, journalist Laura Checkoway crafted an in-depth profile that touches on everything from Solange's pre-show rituals to her collaboration with Dev Hynes to an important lesson a fourth grade teacher taught her. The issue goes on sale in June, but you can read the full cover story right now... COMPLEX

Check out her spread & new video after the jump!

Nicki Minaj For Teen Vogue

Nicki Minaj covers Teen Vogue's June/July issue, and while her smile says "Everything is great!" that look in her eyes is definitely, "Get me out of this corset."

On why she refuses to fake the funk 
People treat this business like it’s high school. It can absolutely feel like one big popularity contest, and you know what? I can’t be bothered. I can’t allow myself to play ridiculous games with grown adults in the industry. I can’t be nice to someone just because they’re hot right now. I can’t do it.

On how her parents dysfunctional relationship affected her 
Every time my parents fought, my mother would have us move and I would have to go to a new school, which meant I’d have to face the task of making new friends. I dreaded it. I had butterflies in my stomach each time: Are people going to like or hate me? … Sometimes there’d be a fight, sometimes not. I let people know I wasn’t going to be pushed around.

On why she no longer pays attention to the critics 
I used to read the bad things people said about me, then I asked myself, ‘Why am I reading that when I have millions of people saying great things?’ You cannot give negativity power. I tell teens, if you’re having a problem, there’s nothing wrong with deleting your social media. If people keep taunting you and you keep reading it, it’s poison.

SNEAK PEEK: Beyoncé for VOGUE's March Power Issue

What isn’t Beyonce doing this season?

Fresh off of performing at the Inauguration and the Super Bowl half-time show and just in time for the release of her very personal HBO documentary series, Beyonce’s covering Vogue’s Power 2013 issue.

Inside, she’s featured in a multi-page spread accompanied by a cover story which describes her as the Queen B as well as a chart-topper, glamour wife, style icon, filmmaker, new mom and business mogul.

Beyonce is at the height of her powers and writing her own script. 

Catch the COVER preview below:

Kerry Washington Covers Ebony’s Scandal Issue

You can’t help but be proud of actress Kerry Washington. She’s come so far since her role in the 2001 dance flick, “Save The Last Dance” and she continues to be a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood, all while being a positive role model.

She’s covering this month’s Ebony Magazine (looking fierce as usual) and inside, she shares intimate details from her past as well as the significance of portraying such dynamic female characters such as Olivia Pope on ABC’s Scandal and the slave, Broomhilda, in “Django Unchained.” She discusses the connection the two characters have, and how they relate to her own personal life.

Catch a few highlights:

Kerry on what she loves about Olivia Pope

In her professional life, she is so powerful and is this self-made woman…But in [Olivia’s] personal life, she is a mess and I kind of love that…I love that I get to embody all of that complexity because I also think it takes a certain level of progress for us to have a Black Woman that powerful be an emotional mess on television.

Kerry on the connection between Olivia and Broomhilda:

[Olivia] is the answer to Broomhilda’s prayers…I’m grateful that these two women on opposite ends of history, on opposite ends of their experience, both strong women but in such different ways, can exist at the same time.

It’s definitely Kerry season.

In this issue, which is pegged “The Scandal Issue,” Ebony also lists 50 scandalous events that have rocked Black culture and features an article titled, “What Really Happened to Pastor Zachery Tims” which examines how the once reigning pastor of a Florida mega church died mysteriously in a New York hotel room.

You can catch this issue when it hits newsstands Feb. 5.

article via NecoleBitchie

Kim Kardashian In Arabian Fashion Magazine ‘Hia’ [Photos]

Well, if anybody can get away with showing skin in an Arabian fashion magazine…it’s Kim Kardashian.

The reality star swapped her usual skin-tight, assets-emphasizing clothing for a series of diaphanous veils worn over elegant evening gowns for the cover shoot.

Although she had on veils, they didn’t hide her cleavage-exposing plunging neckline gown designed by Stephane Rolland – definitely not traditional Muslim attire. It might even be considered dangerous to wear such an outfit in many Middle Eastern countries.

Kim recently visited Kuwait and Bahrain to promote the Millions of Milkshakes ice cream-and-yogurt chain.

Kim talked to the Daily Mail about her cover shot: “Hia is the leading luxury lifestyle magazine for Arab woman, and I’m honored to be on the cover. This shoot was so different from any I have done before, and I’m so pleased with how the cover turned out. I loved how [Rolland's] couture creations brought a modern twist to old-school glamour.”

Mohieb Dahabieh, the creative director for the shoot, also explains his concept: ‘I chose to re-inflate an air of mystery into the simmering Kim and usher her back to a bygone era. In exploring the psyche of image, in shifting the frontier between public and private, was I perhaps prompting the perfect 21st century bombshell to unpack her inner allure and taste the transcendental from within?”

What do you think of the shoot?

article via LoveBScott

January 2013 Magazine Covers !!

With the new year, brings brand new Magazine Covers for some of our favorite mags, and so far these covers do NOT disappoint!

Tyra Banks is back in her element covering tons of high brow magazines...and looking gorgeous while doing so. The model turned business mogul is currently rocking the January 2013 cover of Harper's Bazaar Singapore. And we've got her edgy looks, and what she says about becoming a mom, inside... 

Covering the upcoming issue of Harper Bazaar Singapore in the popular trend of futuristic makeup, Tyra was giving face and smizing it up for the pages of the issue, which is on stands now.

Inside the mag, she's rocking everyone's fave designers from Chanel to Armani to Donna Karen.

article via YBF

Peep the rest of the chic line up for Magazine Covers for 2013, after the JUMP!!

Just One of the Guys: Rihanna's Menswear Moment

Rihanna is taking her December GQ Men of the Year cover to heart, showing up at a London event, during of her 777 tour, in some slick menswear stolen straight from the European runways.

The singer threw a cobalt Fall '12 Raf Simons DB jacket over an Acne bold striped sleeveless shirt and pants set, seen in that brand's Spring '13 show, for a pairing that puts most guys to swagger shame. Is it any wonder she's GQ's Obsession of the Year?

article via GQ