By// Quassan Castro
Keke decides to pass on the tour that popped up out of nowhere, using all of the R&B Divas’ likenesses without permission (from an agent associated with diva Syleena). Syleena is all about the dead presidents associated with said tour so she didn’t think it would be a problem. Wrong.
Rocky Bivens made appeared on the show last night and showed his entire arse as he called Michael a female dog. The diss was retaliation at Michael’s poor artist management skills, according to Bivens. “Real managers don’t entertainment negativity they entertain productivity,” he said.
Jermaine Dupri also appeared on last night’s show and watched in amazement as sisters, Tamika and Latocha Scott rehearsed in preparation for So So Def’s 20 year anniversary. In case you didn’t know, So So Def, owned and founded by Dupri, is responsible for some heavy weight acts, including one of my favorite groups, Jagged Edge. Tameka “Tiny” Cottle and Kandi Burruss, both former Xscape members, were not at neither the rehearsal nor the So So Def celebration. Prior to the break-up of Xscape, rumors swirled that the ladies got to a point in the group where it was hard for them to even be in the same room together…hmmm. Latocha says the fans were cheated by Tiny and Kandi’s decision not to perform because of the group’s quarrels. But then again, Tiny and Kandi don’t need a check.
Next we find Nicci and Latocha chatting it up at Latocha’s house. Poor Latocha is forced to listen to Nicci talk smack about Syleena again. Nicci says she will not step foot on the “tour.”You know, the tour we’ve heard about a million times in this episode thus far. And right now, it looks like Syleena will be doing it by herself due to her allegedly shady business moves.
Brandy, Nicci’s daughter, gets an offer to represent Nicci’s Curvato clothing brand as a model. Brandy is cute and seems to be a smart young woman, so why not? In other mother/daughter news, Syleena Johnson reveals that she grew up watching her mom abuse drugs and alcohol. Her honesty is commendable as she admits apprehension about the possibility of her drug-addicted mother coming to live with her in Atlanta. She also confesses that she doesn’t want to be around her mom. However, her sister begs her to allow their mom to stay with her and Syleena agrees.
An anniversary celebration is in the works for Keke and Michael. “Two years with KeKe has been the best two years of my life,” Pastor Michael says. He’s a special man because we all know KeKe isn’t too right. She even confesses her psycho status over dinner. Knowing is half the battle. Even with her confession of crazy, Michael still affirms he’s going to ride with KeKe until the end. You just got to love Michael.
Nicci arrives to a photo shoot greeted by Brandy. Before Nicci even drops her purse to a safe spot, she bites poor Brandy’s head off, “How you gonna send [my assistant] to get you [some] eye lashes, that’s my assistant! Not yours! Remember that!” Nicci discovers the clothes for the photo shoot are not present. Her ankles swell and blood pressure boils. Nicci humiliates Brandy in front of the glam squad, accusing her of not having clothes present for the photo shoot. Nicci makes a few phone calls only to find out Brandy was not to blame for the absence of the clothes. The glam squad chuckles in secret code at Nicci for making such an ass out of herself.
Later in the show, Syleena lays down some rules for her mother to follow before she gets a tour of the big house and the tension is thick. Syleena’s mom reminds her that she’s the mom, not the child. And we then get to a painful moment to watch when Syleena reminds her mother that she referred to her daughters as bitches back in the day. Imagine perhaps, Syleena’s hostile upbringing helps us to understand why she operates on constant defense mode. Syleena’s mom apologizes for some of her harsh actions but there’s something about it that still seems manipulative.
The new two-member version of Xscape, featuring Tamika and Latocha Scott, gave an awesome performance at Jermaine Dupri’s celebration. You have to get up and dance every time you hear “Just Kickin’ It.” I really wanted to see my girls Tiny and Kandi but the other ladies still pulled through. Latocha, obviously hurt by the other members not participating, was very political about the situation and didn’t throw salt on Tiny and Kandi’s name. “I have to be seen as an individual; as Latocha. I gotta sing. I gotta sing,” were Latocha’s closing words.
Quassan Castro is a news and entertainment journalist. Follow him on Twitter.