The Prototype

Remember when the prevailing argument was that the hershey-toned fellas got all the love, after years of playing second to their caramel counterparts? That line of thinking ushered in the Tyson (still the champ!)-Mekhi Phifer era.

Black folk have a long-running struggle with our complexions. In 2008, you could still catch an episode of "Tyra" during which panelists debated light-skin vs. dark-skin. There's a lot of (American) history and pain running through that discourse.

Remember Kanye famously announcing he only dates "mutts," his term of endearment for girls of mixed blood? The Yung Berg brouhaha, where he practically resurrected the brown paper bag test? So we haven't all transcended the colonial thinking but the culture is moving forward.



Look, my dating past is checkered with melanin-rich guys, well before it was in vogue. That might be more about some Freudian thing (my dad is a handsome man with skin the color of fudge).

But Black men are beautiful for real, in all their varied glory. I feel like these days there's a consensus on that and it's a good thing. Two of my most crush-worthy, Drake and Andre 3000, pictured here.

Chrisette Michele Has an 'Epiphany'

Just as there are several ways to skin the proverbial cat, a click of the radio proves there are many ways to throw in the towel on a doomed affair. Once upon a time, it was to the left, to the left. This year, Central Islip hometown girl (I see you L.I.!) and Def Jam signee Chrisette Michele is making it simple with "Epiphany (I'm Leaving)" the first single off her sophomore album of the same name, due
May 5.

As if the syrupy farewell wasn't enough, the companion video features Drake, flexing his acting chops again, as Chris's cheating ex. This is a singer/songwriter who has mustered only a kind of quiet success; she lacks the grit of a Keyshia Cole, Keri's kittenish approach, or Beyonce's power pipes and predictability. But if Chris can cut through the increasingly rigid standards and practices that dictates what an R&B songstress should sound and look like, she just might get it. A little more noise might push her over, too.

Drake's Progress

On his track "The Lounge," upstart Asher Roth asks, "What's a rapper look like?" The Toronto-born MC nee Aubrey Graham, bka Drake, went from a wheelchair-bound highschooler caught up in a Columbine-style shooting on The N's "Degrassi: The Next Generation" to a rap boy wonder surfing the crest of a wave of mixtape success, that positively crashed with his acclaimed So Far Gone. So what does a rapper look like these days, and if he can be a former child actor, what separates him from, say, Will Smith's "Yo homes, to Bel Air!" antics? For one thing, an air-tight affiliation with Lil Wayne and his Young Money Entertainment underscores that his rap credentials have been checked and scanned at the door. But the wavy-coiffed 22-year-old also more than earns his "Heartbreak" Drake moniker. Download "Best I Ever Had" or check Drake's melodic stylings on "Brand New" and try to remember when the Fresh Prince ever set your grade-school heart aflutter.