But these days, the girlfriends of rap artists are getting media attention for being just that—girlfriends. No rapping, no singing, no nothing; just the high honor of being the chosen one in the sea of women in which artists dive. So the question becomes, can being someone’s girlfriend transcend you into stardom or will these girls get the short end of the stick when, and if, the relationship fizzles out?

Kanye West is one celebrity whose girlfriends always seem to get their 5 minutes of fame. His latest, Amber Rose, a shaved-head, light-skinned aspiring model with a fierce body and a permanent cigarette attached to her fingers, seems to be the most intriguing of all, especially as the lesbian rumors continue to pour in. Blogs also say that Amber is a former stripper, and if pictures soon surface, I predict her star will rise even more so. But it still remains to be seen whether Amber’s appeal transcends being Kanye’s girl. In the past, former Kanye girls have become partially successful—depending on how you look at it. Alexis Phifer, the most recent ex, is an aspiring clothing designer, and Brooke Crittendon is a current cast member of the BET reality series, Harlem Heights.

In the case of Joe Budden and his girl Tahiry, who was just recently photographed for the cover of King magazine, the scales seem to be tipping in her direction. Unbeknownst to Tahiry, she became the star of Joe Budden’s video blogs–the reality tv-type material that became popular on his Youtube channel. Since the couple started broadcasting their private lives on the internet, Tahiry has become the latest hip-hop darling. But while a possible reality TV and modeling career could be awaiting her, will she ever grow outside of the Joe Budden girl role?

In an era where the role of women in hip hop has been reduced significantly, it remains to be seen whether dating a rapper (yeah, I said it) is the fastest way to come up. Please, let the comments begin…because I smell a part 2 coming.

–KIM OSORIO

 

 I remember when I was at Uptown records, I was a Senior VP at Universal. I had great success. I had Monifa, Soul For Real, I had me. I had great success there. But there is nothing artistic about running a label. It made me realize how much of an artist I am. I remember going to Doug Morris who is one of my favorite people on the planet, there was a buyout that went on for 12 billion, and I remember saying you gotta make this back fast. I knew it was going to turn into a machine, and it was going to turn into a machine where the creativity and artist development started going out the window. We just had to make money. I couldn’t turn into that guy so I went to Doug and I was like I love you but I’m not going to be the guy to do this. It takes two or three years to break an artist. I’m not built for that, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m not a business man that way. I love finding the artist, cultivating the talent, producing the records and letting the management and the system take it from there.

At the same time, I was focused on my acting and I fell in love with doing theater and acting, and you could do it ‘til you take your last breath. It changed my life little by little. And it put me in a great place and it made me realize a lot of different things.  There will always ALWAYS be the struggle between commerce and art. It’s the natural progression. But because of money and the power of it, commerce will always win. You take a Talib Kweli who is brilliant; he will never sell as many records. It probably has less to do with people not wanting to hear it, I’m sure there’s an equivalent amount of people who want to hear it, but it’s there. You have somebody like Mos Def, who says, I’m not making another record, until you guys promote it right. I’m gonna go do whatever I do. Or he might just be crazy to begin with who knows.  You can’t tell somebody to walk away from a million dollars. I wouldn’t, especially when it’s legal, and you aren’t killing anybody and most of these cats’ upstart labels started with drug money and they had a chance to clean themselves up. It’s a big deal.

Kanye is the person I respect the most right now, because he pushes the bar. He’s the dude. I love the bravery, you put yourself out there, go be an artist.

–HEAVY D. Heavy D.’s Vibes CD will be available in stores on Dec. 16