May 7, 2007

Hot to Trot

Schatar Taylor is best known as "Hottie" -- the eccentric girl with the bubbly personality and Rapunzel-like blonde weave on VH1's hit series 'Flava of Love' and 'Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School.'

I first met Taylor at designer-to-the-stars Angela Dean's DeanZign collection show last November. I found her to be magnetic then and while I have never seen a single episode of 'Flava of Love,' when I heard Taylor was stirring up trouble on Mo'Nique's 'Charm School,' I had to tune in.

Even in person Taylor has a personality as bright as the lights of Times Square, the poise of a Miss Black America pageant winner and ambitions as high as Snoop Dogg on a daily. I was captivated by Taylor's allure when we met, so why did a woman so poised need etiquette school?

"One of the executive producers called and said they were doing a new show and its charm school. I told him I don't need charm school because I am already charming! But I decided to do the show and I'm glad that I did," Taylor said, in her standard pageantry speak.

The 35-year-old actress/singer/reality show star has shown on 'Charm School' that even good girls have to get bad every now and then to get some camera time. On one episode Taylor hides a fellow contestant's clothes to assure she'd win a competition. "I am the Tiger Woods of the screen," Taylor said confidently. "He calculates his moves and goes towards the winning stroke. That's exactly what I did. It was about being strategic and knowing your opponent."

Fellow house mates sought revenge on Taylor by going through her clothes and then hanging a pair of her used panties on a photo in the bedroom. "Oh My God, those were not my underwear. Those underwear were way too big for me," said an appalled Taylor, before adding: "Maybe they were Pumpkin's." Suffice to say, such antics haven't made Taylor many allies on the show. "When I first went to do 'Flavor of Love,' I thought all of the girls were going to be friendly and cheerful like going to Girl Scout camp. Boy was I in for a big surprise! Round two I came in a bit more prepared. I have to be honest with you; I was not there to make friends. If I wanted to make friends I would have went to the Girl Scouts," she offered.

Though the show taped back in December and has already crowned its 'Charm School' Queen, Taylor, of course, could not divulge the series' winner. "I can say that from the first episode 'til now, I am completely undefeated. Have you noticed that I am on the winning team every time? From the season premiere to the current episode, I am completely undefeated and I like it that way," she said diplomatically, completely avoiding the direct question.

Taylor, a native of Washington, DC, now plans to focus on her singing and acting career. "I live breath, eat and sleep entertainment. I began singing in the church choir at age five. I have over a five octave vocal range," she shared. I beckoned her to sing me a belated "Happy Birthday" song and she did, though she only used one of her five octaves with the arrangement she chose.

She does, however, have a single called 'My Man, My Mansion, My Money' that's been recorded and there's a sneak preview of the track on YouTube. "It received over 70,000 hits in over 24 hours," she pointed out.

As for her acting credits, Taylor, whose name appears as Schatar White on her Screen Actors Guild card, played a poker dealer in the New Line Cinema film, 'Stuey,' which starred Michael Imperioli. She's also played a bank teller in the Tyrese Gibson film 'Waist Deep.'

"Also I played a gang leader on 'America's Most Wanted,' said the talent of a role which was close to her heart. " Thanks to our episode they were finally able to apprehend the criminals and finally bring justice," she said, before adding: "As an actress you must be versatile. Just like the greats like Halle Berry, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Garner. You have to be versatile to play the role."

Before we closed, Taylor had one point she wanted to stress. "I am not a gold-digger. But I do believe in abundance and prosperity. I believe in living a lush life with couture and I try to live each day to the fullest," she said emphatically. By the way, she now calls herself Money Banks!

Girl Power!

Shirley Murdock has been singing gospel professionally since 1999. While most know her for and still want to hear her sing songs like "As We Lay," "Husband" and "Go on without You," Murdock walked away from a stellar career in R&B with the help of renowned televangelist Bishop T.D. Jakes and hasn't looked back since.

"I was signed to Warner Bros. to sing R&B. I went to Roger Troutman [of Zapp] and told him I wanted to sing gospel," the Toledo, Ohio native explained. "He said he wasn't surprised because when he met me, that's what I was doing. Roger gave me my release from Warner Bros. in December 1998. He died in April of 1999. How's that for the timing of God?"

Murdock believes it's always been her calling to "bridge the sacred and the secular" and declared that even during her stint as an R&B diva, she included gospel songs in her repertoire. "I used to sing gospel in the clubs. Even back then I had a secular show with a gospel set," she laughed.

Under the tutelage of Bishop Jakes, Murdock released the CD, 'Home,' on Jakes' Dexterity Sounds Gospel label in 2002. Now the singer is back with a new release called 'Soul Food' on Tyscot Records, which is being led by the empowering anthem, 'I Love Me Better Than That.'

The song has become popular among women in particular, because it encourages them to get a handle on their personal relationships. "The song was birthed because I had the awesome opportunity to minister at a lot of women's conferences," Murdock shared. "When I am at these conferences I see these sisters looking all good and they got their hair did, they nails done, and they all MAC'd out with their St. Johns suits on. But behind the smile, behind that happy-happy-everything's-great, they're some broke down sisters who are tore-up from the floor up."

While women are the target audience for the song, Murdock reminded us that "it's not just a song to just empower women, but just people taking back anything that would hinder them from being the best person they can be."

"Life has dealt many of us a jacked-up hand. Sometimes, we've dealt ourselves a jacked-up hand based on decisions we've made. As we look into the mirror of our own lives and understand what those things are that's jacking you and blocking the flow of God's blessings into your life, you have to say that 'I Love Me Better Than That,' cause you really can't love nobody else until you love yourselves," Murdock closed.

Buzzworthy

Stephen and Damian "Junior Gong" Marley will headline Haiti's first international music festival in the cultural center, Jacmel. With more than 24 other bands of various genres of music from around the world, the festival will run May 25-27. For details, visit www.festivalmizikjakmel.com.

‘Deliver Us From Eva’ director Gary Hardwick won Best Comedy Feature at the Hollywood HD Film Festival in Los Angeles for his movie 'Universal Remote.' The movie stars Charlie Murphy ('Chappelle's Show') and Robert Hayes ('Airplane!')

Tony Award winning actress LaChanze, who got her trophy for 'The Color Purple' and went the hell home, is the new spokesperson for PepsiCo Smart Spot Dance. LaChanze will appear at the Smart Spot Dance event in Houston this week. For details visit www.smartspot.com.

Thank God that Washington, DC finally has an FM gospel station on the dial. Radio One acquired a station and flipped its format on Good Friday to introduce the new Praise 104.1. The station carries the new Radio One syndicated morning drive show, 'The Yolanda Adams Morning Show,' which is now in 14 markets thanks to the signal change in the Nation's Capital. The show originates from Radio One's Houston affiliate, Praise 92.1 and features co-host "Brother" Larry Jones.

Though I am ecstatic about the 24 hour gospel station on the FM dial in my area, let's hope they get someone good to program the music soon. (Am I asking for too much already?) Though rival station Heaven 1580 AM may loose its signal when the sun goes down, its program director Cheryl Jackson has the CBS-owned station sounding amazing! Maybe that's who they should call.

Speaking of gospel, the Billboard Gospel Chart has become a family affair. The Clark-Moss family has long been legendary for their extraordinary vocal ability and contributions to the gospel industry. The recent releases from singer/songwriter J. Moss and his first cousins The Clark Sisters have dominated the music charts by both debuting at number one and rotating between the top spot and number two since their respective releases. Hopefully some promoter will be smart enough to send The Clark Sisters -- Karen Clark-Sheard, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Elbertina "Twinkie" Clark and Jackie Clark Chisholm -- out on the road with their cousin J. Moss and Kierra "Kiki" Sheard (daughter of Karen) for a Clark-Moss family tour.

Where Are They Now?

Ever wonder where some of your favorite entertainers are? Well I do too! If anyone knows the whereabouts and current happenings of former Montel Jordan protégé Shae Jones, best known for the 1998 single, 'Talk Show Shhh' and the 1999 CD 'Talk Show,' drop me a line at JawnMurray07@aol.com.

Can't Say Names…

Sources at a cable TV network said a certain TV host wouldn't interview a controversial former NBA star for fear the athlete's story would resuscitate a tabloid rumor about the host that made headlines last fall. To appease show producers, said TV talent had a producer from the show interview the one-time jock/author on the TV set while he wasn't there.