Month: July 2010

After experiencing Ibiza many years ago as a 19 year old over excited bunny with my girl friends, getting smashed on tequila for my first alcoholic experience ever and observing crazy crass antics by sex mad, drunk desperados, I swore never to go down that road again. So how did I find myself in Ayia Napa last week!?

Well, for the past 3years an artist/producer called Sniper had been inviting me to experience life in his native home of Cyprus. Always laughing at him I swore I would never attend the annual summerfest urban craze fest that is Ayia Napa. Relentlessly every year Sniper would reach out and offer to show me ‘’the real Cyprus’’ and I would decline. Not just cos I had heard about its crazy 3 month wild fest of debauchery, but also because whilst working at MTV it would not be morally correct to be seen hanging with music acts and accepting ‘’payola’’. MTV were very strict-quite correctly about us walking the straight line and if there were even a sniff of ‘’corruption’’ you could be fired.

So-when Sniper heard I had left MTV towers for terrestrial TV last year he insisted that now that I couldn’t be ‘’musically corrupted’’. So with a new, open mind I arranged for a Cypriot friend to show me around the city and jumped on a British Airways jet to Larcana and kept it real quiet cos on the low I was a little embarrassed that I was finally making the dreaded journey. I guess it’s how men feel when they visit a lap dance joint lol! Before we even left UK shores there was a sign that things had begun as they were going to continue. My mate made a joke about having a huge knife in his case to the check in clerk, then got excited about a discontinued aftershave line in duty free which he bought. Then forgot on the cash desk. On the plane he insisted he was going to go back and retrieve it and then told air staff that it was his wallet and they practically put out an APB to go get the aftershave and get it back to him!

So we arrive in Cyprus on day 1 where Sniper has a car meet us at the airport. As soon as we got in it was playing Snipers music (www.snipermusic.com)  . As we drove past bus stops they were advertising Snipers music. As we zoomed past the gigantic Waterworld Themed  Waterpark there were massive Sniper posters. As we cruised through town we saw lots of young hip hop fans wearing Sniper t-shirts!. We couldn’t help think we were in a hip-hop version of the Warburton’s bread advert where there is product placement everywhere you look. The car dropped us off at the 5 star Grecian Park Hotel which was plush, marbled with a huge pool and set just outside of the main town as I had insisted sniper arrange somewhere where the grime music scene boys wouldn’t bump into me in my bikini-how unprofessional would that be!

The next few days turned out to be my version of heaven and hell equally interspersed.
On our first night it was heaven, Sniper and his lovely lady took myself and my guy to a traditional Cypriot village-The Good Village- where we tasted a meze of local dishes which ended with my guy being encouraged to try the delicacy of a goats head that had been sliced perfectly in half and opened up on a silver platter. Not wanting to offend I tried a penny size piece of goat brain that was very pate like. My uber competitive, trying to impress fella did goat brain, goat cheek, goat tongue and the piece-de-résistance- goats eyes!. 10 minutes later the horror of what he’d done caught up with him and he was gulping down red wine and smoking a cigarette to calm his nerves. He doesn’t smoke. You know there was no kissing till Colgate!

On our 3rd day the concierge called our suite and informed me there was a gift awaiting me at reception. I walk down to find the coolest buggy that had been sent to me for the week. All black, a solid cage and slick as hell-I was amped zooming it around the ocean paths. The day was made even better as we attended the huge infamous Waterworld Themed Waterpark which 50 Cent had mentioned I must visit. Jay Z had also informed me that on his Cyprus trip Memphis Bleek and Sugababe Mutya had closed the park down after hours to experience the rides. Sniper offered to open out of hours so I could have the park to myself but I reassured him it was totally fine to mingle with the great unwashed public-how weird would it be having a park full of operational staff attending to just me and my guy? Too weird. Instead sniper had a security man escort us around the park, leading us to the front of all the queues-which I found totally embarrassing but was grateful for.
The rides were really exciting! Like Thorpe Park but full of water. It all looked clean, fun and pretty sexy with everyone in beachwear. I went on every ride except the hell high red vertical slide drop cos sometimes even I’m a scared-cat. My favourite was a really high-entwined slide that dropped you into a giant spinning wheel-esque, bowl shaped bottom before plunging you deep into a plunge pool called the AEOLOS WHIRLPOOL. POSEIDON’S WAVEPOOL was pretty hardcore too! It was nice that the crowd was both British, Scandinavian, and Russian so I didn’t have to just hear cockney, northern and scouse accents all day long. A heavenly day!.

Day 4- we were taken to the various beaches to experience water sports that included jet skiing, donuts, banana boats, and a new ride that I loved called fly fishing. My big achievement though was water skiing. Hanging onto the bars on the side of a speedboat I braced myself sturdily as it ripped me through the warm Cyprus waters. Too much fun!. My guy tried to yell instructions at me from the boat. Finally peeved by his criticism I suggested he show me how to do it. Cockily he jumped into the ocean only to find he couldn’t even balance on the skis and insisted the skipper take him back to shore!. Shake My Head.  But heaven was followed by hell…
I tried not to take in too many out of shape topless chics with bright red burning breasts and foreheads that were peeling. In this day and age its unfathomable that people are still so old fashioned with the thought that if they don’t have a dark, burnt look on their return to the UK, that they will be seen not to have had a great vacation. Pathetic. Honestly-I observed people that had flown over the seas to experience not another culture or have active fun in the sun, but idiots that refused to wear sun lotion for protection and instead were frying their skin with cocoa butter!?. Forget the fact that this is the one thing that will damage and age your skin to resemble crocodile skin, but what about the health issues? Cancer is not just something that happens to other people!.
I calmed myself down with a delicious fish supper where we all dismantled a huge local fresh fish called Stone Bass

Sniper also took us to see cultural buildings and churches as well as the caves of Cape Greko where people used to pray in hiding during the crusades, as RICHARD THELIONHEART was once ruler of this land, those days people were persecuted for their religion, faith and beliefs. It is also said by US scientists that the edge of Cape Greko is where the lost City of Atlantis broke off to sink in the ocean and searches will start in the near future!.

Twitter is a great thing and I saw that my boys Rampage (RADIO1XTRA) were playing one evening at club Black & White (seemingly the only R&B/hip-hop club to go to out there). When Rampage play I know I will rave until sunrise and we did. In the house were many UK urban faces as well as local hip hop lovers, international big ballers from Russia, Scandinavia, THE USA, and most ballers that playn in the country or nearby countries like Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Egypt and some players from our premier league

Before we went into the club though we stood in the infamous centre square strip road watching the madness unfold. It was pure hell. Young girls and guys all staggering around drunk looking as if they’re about to throw up. Ladies with literally no clothes on wearing classless lycra scraps of fabric giggling incoherently as guys grope them as they wander past. Hen night groups plus stag night groups, plus teens that are all on heat and of the mind set that ‘’what happens in Cyprus stays in Cyprus’’ OR GOES ON FACEBOOK! all mixing to devastatingly dangerous results. Photographer to the hip hop world Paul H and promoter Mr Play stood alongside me as we watched the horror unfolding before our eyes. We also popped into Club Ice where DJ EZ was killing the crowd doing what he does on the decks. After raving with Rampages Mike Anthony until 6am we stopped by the jerk chicken stall where we had an early breakfast before hitting our 5 star beds before the next days fun and frolics.

To rebalance my chav over dose the next night Sniper took us to uber fancy Japanese restaurant Nozomi which was outdoor, elevated and overlooked the sea. With an all white very classy bar and décor we sipped the finest cocktails, popped a gold bottle of ace of spades and nibbled on my favourite black cod and fancy food as Snipers business partner and old skool A&R GURU to the stars JACK Steven (Annie Lennox, sade etc) told us stories from the music world of yesteryear! Jack encouraged my guy to match him drink for drink. Clearly my guy obliged by knocking back cognac brandies and espressos in abundance and was so wired he was on a food hunt at 5am and then couldn’t sleep until 2 days later! The drinking continued at the Nissaki Lounge Bar by the beach where i got high on secondary smoke from everyone elses shi-sha!

The following night I was forced to watch a very boring world cup football final. SNORE. The end. Thankfully this was also ‘’ JET –SKI SUNDAY’’ where we all roared around the Cypriot coastline on high powered jet skis!.

On our last 2 DAYS Sniper had us pack an over night bag and took us to experience the nearby town of Limassol where we stayed at the Londa Hotels amazingly cute suites. That night all 6 of us piled into a huge, white Porsche cayenne stretch limo which took us to a fancy restaurant at the Columbia Plaza which houses the Columbia Steak House for a steak dinner. The venue had a live music area upstairs called the ‘7 SEAS’ where we all jumped onto the drums and piano as I did my best Mariah impression. No one was impressed lol.

The next morning Sniper took us to a diamond manufacturer where I had my not very expensive jewellery valued and we watched as precious stones were turned into all kinds of expensive merchandise. I sat in the huge vault for a minute. It was the closest I was ever going to get to being surrounded by diamonds and I was going to make the most of it!.

On our last night we heard Ms Dynamite was performing at Club Ice so we decided to brave the madness again and go down and surprise her. The club was heaving once again packed with young, naked holidayers on heat. Sniper hijacked the mic and performed some of the tracks from his newly formed 3fifty7 Group of Companies brand,  including the Ayia Napa anthem with  Drew Astro and Pump It Up that features his new artists Oxide and Neutrino-remember them?). The crowd loved his set and I was pretty impressed. Dj Masterstepz and promoter Mr play kept us amused with their funny comments and I was left speechless as I saw folks wearing t shirts that read ‘’dat gal will get dash down’’. Oh dear.

I was also horrified by an old white guy called Johnny. Apparently he’s infamous in Ayia Napa as ‘’Johnny loves black girls’’. He had on a disgusting slogan t shirt and a group of young black girls were even flanking him wearing his t shirts!. I could only feel pity for them as I thought ‘’lord forgive them for they know not what they do’’. Ms Dynamite took to the stage and did her thing like the true professional she is as the crowd sang alongside her word for word and South London’s finest started showing off their uk garage day moves! We finished the night taking a very hammered DJ Mastersteps to the jerk chicken joint where in his best patois accent he proceeded to coarse out the cooks!

The next morning we had a final champagne spray fight in the pool- yes- I was caught up by now in the foolishness-  before being dragged off to the airport as certain peeps with me who didn’t want to leave had to practically have their fingers prized off the hotel door.

The conclusion? Cyrpus is a lovely island that can be either party central or more relaxed and classy depending on how you choose to spend your time. Both heaven and hell its a young, mad place that can be classy-but only if you know where to look! VIVA CYPRUS- IT WAS SPECIAL!.

singer TERRI WALKER, actress/singer PREEYA KALIDAS, JASMINE & singer/song writer CELITIA MARTIN.

Every year for Black History Month myself and the MTV BASE team would go down to the very prestigious ‘’Black VIP 100’’ exhibition which marks the first decade of this millennium with a historic photographic record of black achievement in modern Britain annually and invites individuals to attend a Buffet Reception where during a very fun, buzzing afternoon a photographer takes am portrait of you that is included in a historical gallery showing for future prosperity. In the past our presenter Trevor nelson used to always film an annual episode of THE LICK at this event. So imagine my surprise when I was asked to be a part of such an esteemed line up for 2010. Well after thanking them for thinking of me I replied back asking ‘’um, did you mean to include me, you are aware I am of Asian African origin?’’. Dennis brown and Lorna Stewart replied back insisting that ‘’ We would be delighted to see you at the event. Just to confirm, the definition of black is anyone who is of Nubian descent, including people of mixed parentage. Nubian means people who, through the diaspora (slave trade), were displaced from their African origins and dispersed throughout the world- As an inspirational figure in the world of television and media, we would like to invite you to have your portrait taken by a professional photographer together with other achievers from the world of politics, sport, business, religion, media, entertainment, music, education, creative arts, and community support.’’ Well I’m not one to decline a fun afternoon so on Saturday we put on our finest to go mingle with other achievers in our community in a gorgeous manor house in Lewisham (yes-I ventured south of the river AND enjoyed it LOL) . After initial speeches, we feasted on traditional west Indian food and drinks and mingled amongst the portraits of VIPs from past years that are designed to inspire young people to excel and create a legacy for future generations, by highlighting our individual success and your valuable contributions to society. Portraits I spotted included my mate Mobo founder Kanya King, a range of VIPs, celebrities, well known personalities and members of the general public such as; Lenny Henry, Baroness Lola Young, Rudolph Walker, and many others. The Exhibition is visited by thousands annually and is supported by interactive workshops about black history, inspiring children and young people, and professional development for entrepreneurs. It has been heralded as a major success, with recognition on TV, radio and in print media and I urge you to visit it with friends and family to inspire and unite us all- a much needed reminder of our successes in the current climate!

Walking into the Wireless Festival last week was like a 360-degree turn around on British festivals of yesteryear. I remember in the nineties my street musician mates like Blak Twang, Ty, Rodney P, Roots Manuva and the Cookie Crew would just about get onto a festival line up by the skin of their teeth, and even then it was the smaller, alternative stages they were allowed to grace-and we were so delighted by their inclusion. Over the years with more respect and attention paid to young Brits like Lethal B who is an amazing live act, festivals have invited urban acts to dominate their line ups and wireless was another ‘’ we can exhale now’’ moment. This year saw UK urban acts out number American ones with the likes of Wiley and Roll Deep, Chipmunk (who really is becoming more and more superstar like with his stage presense as time goes by), Tinie Tempah (who swore quite a bit and took his top off at the end of his set!), Mz Bratt (who literally had her tent bouncing with excitement), Mclean (who was accompanied by his gorgeous daughter and wifey) and more! After queuing for our VIP Roc Nation passes (a celeb we all know and love refuses to queue for hers so someone else kindly queued for her!), we fought through the hundreds to get into the guest VIP area where we made a bee line for some food. Any food. We were starving. So we chose the food stall with no queue-the chip stall, where we paid a whopping £7.50 for fish & a few measly chips! Now we could see why the queue for the Jerk chicken went practically around the park. Everyone was still buzzing about the previous day where Missy Elliott had performed her typically awful live set after turning up mega late, as well as the humungous faux pas of wearing a Germany Adidas tracksuit onstage- mere days after Germany ran circles around us in the world cup leading to England being knocked out!. Oh dear. Was there really not one British colleague around to warn missy ‘’um that might not be the best idea’’? Add to that the fact that after fans began to boo her took off her shoe and gestured to throw it at them, which eventually led to organisers pull the plug on her set. Cringe. I know the industry says she gets very bad stage fright but come on son! A decade down the line she’s had a couple of afternoons to get a stage choreographer or trainer in to help her out surely!?? Record label top dogs like SonyBMG’s Nadir Contractor, Gordy Hagan and the man that made Destiny’s Child from a European point of view Mr Matt Ross were mingling with relative new comers KISSFM radio hosts Rickie & Melvin, singer Terri Walker, new up and coming girl group 3d, super producer Tim Blacksmith, boxer David Haye who as usual had girls lining up to take a photo with him, singer Mclean and many more. Beyonce was up in the tower watching her man do his thing onstage, she was joined by best female friend Gwyneth and other very big VIP names. Jay z was as charismatic as ever but I couldn’t heklp feeling at times he looked as if he was just going through the motions at yet another summer festival. All around us young ones were talking in hushed whispered tones about his alleged masons connection as I just rolled my eyes and laughed!.

Straight after Wireless we were invited by American southern soul chef, the celebrity cook Asbell who was throwing a July 4th celebration dinner for Americans in London at the private members club THE ELECTRIC. Ashbell is back in the UK to bring his southern soul food flava to the world of food. He has loved being in the UK and relishes bringing spice n all things nice to the table. Having produced a menu for Electric members he delighted chefs and customers with mouth-watering dishes. The great thing about southern regional food is it’s heritage is part Irish, Scottish, Native American, Spanish and African much like Ashbell McElveen whose family can be traced through all these lines and whose globe trotting has bought a wealth of recipes under his belt that know how to showcase this fusion of flavours. Ashbell is here to bring some life and soul to the palette. To help people remember through the fussiness of all the food TV overload that simple is best when you know what to do you can enjoy the experience of eating and sharing great food and most importantly in these times a style of enjoying great food that won’t break the bank. he is also producing some signature cocktails inc watermelon martini using his own forthcoming brand of White whiskey called Ashbells Moonshine, a clear mixable and delicious triple distilled corn whiskey – blended to an old family recipe…. Going to be launched soon in the UK. Cookery master classes soon come!

The next night Terri Walker performed a set for the iTunes festival at the uber plush members only club Shoreditch house which was full with fans and friends who came to support her including former Sugababe Keisha. Teri rocked studded Kurt Gieger shoes,a grown up blazer and sang her heart out and had the crowd eating out of her hand-look out for new music from her this year!.

Years ago when I was outraging listeners on CHOICEFM with JASMINES JUICE scandal talk my hero was American controversial gossip DJ Wendy Williams. Whilst I merely talked about what was gwanin in the scene and revealing upfront news snippets, Wendy was causing catastrophic pandemonium by outing all the hip-hop stars news and private business. Many a star wanted to kill Wendy back in those days. But Wendy made her lane and graduated from there to get her own talk show. Now her TV show the Wendy Williams show is coming to the UK courtesy of BET who flew her to London to hang out with us for a minute.

The very fabulous Wendy who greets her audiences with her celebrated opening line “How you doin’?” joined an intimate audience of around 100 of us in the theatre screening room of the prestigious Soho hotel where we had a lovely evening getting to know Wendy over flutes of champagne and nibbles.
After a few introductory speeches by BET bods the lady herself stepped up and was I surprised. All these years of following her career and I never knew she was so BIG. Physically this lady is 6 foot in stocking feet and a big lady who’s boobs were ginormous! She revealed that she had been experiencing London and been enjoying fish & chips with enough malt vinegar, but was vexed cos there was no hot sauce. (A girl after my own heart-maybe its     all that hot bitterness that we like to eat that comes straight out again with all gossip queens!). She added that being in the UK was cool as she felt at home because of the British tabloids.

Wendy is Queen at talking and making you warm to her. Like me she reassured us all that reassured me that what she says is never meant to be nasty and that her show ‘’ is not a mean spirited show but that its always what we say in the back of our heads’’. Wendy spoke about the break down of her show informing us that it combines celebrity gossip, news events, relationship advice, as well as diverse mix of celebrity interviews from film, music, fashion, sports and television and carries a variety of interviews with old, young black, white folks, Hollywood stars, pop stars and real people.
As if she wasn’t glamazon enough, Wendy had on her skyscraper heels and she laughed chortling ‘’flats are only for working out or when your corns and bunions are flaring up, worrying! Things Wendy does worry about are her aging parents who are 77 and 79 , taxes, her kids, and the BP crisis. She revealed that her biggest struggle is raising a decent young boy to become a decent man and whilst she talks everyone else’s business, hers is not out of bounds.She let out that she knows pain and openly talks about her two 5 month old miscarriages. Wendy’s show debuts here in the UK on BET International (Sky Channel 191 and Freesat 140 on July 13.

South London’s finest Giggs text me a few weeks ago asking me to save the date for his ‘’invisible album launch party’’. By that I gathered he meant ‘keep it on the low cos every time I try and do anything publicly the police shut it down’ . So it took all my will power not to tweet or talk about it and whilst a few other music industry journalists had mentioned they weren’t attending as they didn’t want to get caught up in any madness, I wanted to support ,so gingerly made my way to ‘’the- ultra wanting-to-be-as-pretentious-as-the-New York-Bungalow 8-but isn’t’’’ Bungalow 8 club in St Martins Lane Hotel.
I felt smug as I was able to park practically outside the door. Until I stepped up to the suited bulldog on the door with my name. He checked it off the list and then asked for ‘’the password’’. Stumped?. Giggs hadn’t mentioned a password. Just as I was pulling out my celly to ding him, he stepped out from behind the bulldog and informed him ‘’ she and her guest are cool’’, at which the bulldog sat back. Poor Giggs explained that all night the venue had been uncooperative with his guests so he was having to play doorman. Poor guy. Downstairs in the intimate venue it was getting busier with Peckhams finest grimy boys and gals getting warmed up whom Giggs described as ‘’manden and hotties-just family invited’’. It was clear that the hotel weren’t used to ‘’this type of crowd’’ and most likely weren’t best pleased. Nevertheless Giggs popped on a slick black suit, greeted his guests and mingled as the party popped off big time with a really nice vibe. His album ‘’LET EM AVE IT’’ was played all through the night and a moment to cherish considering our antagonistic past was as Giggs told me ‘’thanks for coming Jas-it means a lot’’. (Who would’ve ever thought he’s ever say that LOL) perhaps he was tipsy.

Next my guy dragged me out of there to run up the road to the NERD party at Studio Valbonne. The venue was heaving as we entered and was 90% full of eager, skimpy, dancing as if it were their last day on earth girls with the remaining 10% of men looking as if they’d just won the lottery. I guess the law of averages says that as Pharrell is unlikely to leave and please every female that’s hot for him some of these guys must get lucky. The naked chics were kept excited by the sounds of celeb DJ to the stars DJ Manny Norte who always has a party jumping. Party host Adedapo Awofisayo sat us at his VIP table and spoilt us all with an abundance of beverages and by the time NERD hit the stage at 2am for a quick set the vibe was electric. Football manager Chris Nathaniel was holding court with music manager Paul Boadi in one half of the club and when Pharrell came in it was as if England had won the world cup so hardcore was the sheer volume of the screaming which was off the Richter scale.

Remember the talented, young, black comedian impressionist that I first brought to TV airwaves at MTV BASE for BLACK HISTORY MONTH called Jason Lewis? He has just had the ‘’Jason Lewis experience’’ commissioned by BBC3. Congrats Jase-you deserve it! Thanks to Jay Davidson & Nana Hughes and Jo Sargent for making it happen! Upwards and onwards.

Unity and ambition in groups of circles plays a huge part in success and this example keeps popping up in every story I encounter. A young man that I kept hearing about years ago that young people really respected musically is an artist named Wretch32. My interns, researchers, work experience and more would bring his name up continually. I met him a few times before he became popular and he was always the most well-mannered, friendly, engaging person. Everyone liked him. He is on the register for ‘’next to blow up’. Check him out. From North London like his homeboy Chipmunk, Wretch smiled as he recalled to me that his Dad was a sound system DJ so they had speaker boxes all over the house and in Wretch’s bedroom. His Dad also took him to jams which he laughs were maybe not appropriate but Wretch was sucking it all in. Wretch has been really close to Chipmunk for years as both are North Londoners and always kept in touch, played each other tracks and kept each other on their toes. As well as Chippy, Wretch is close to acts Scorcher, Ghetto and Bashy and loves following Scorcher and Skepta on Twitter as both are mad funny, but does see the downside of the social networking site when he observes cyber wars between artists. He maturely understands that the advantages to Twitter are fan and public interaction but acknowledges that its negative side is that you put out immediately the first thing that comes into your head and press send.
He described his early days getting into the game and explained that it ‘’ was more difficult to get into the game as acts like Wiley, Roll Deep, Nasty Crew, and others were all from London’s East End and all the pirate radio stations there were controlling the sounds of the time’’. Wretch’s first mixtape “Learn from my mixtape” caught peoples ears and Radio1Xtras DJ Cameo , Ace & Vis and Semtex were suitably impressed.
Wretch continues ‘’Combination Camp were on HeatFM and encouraged me to get on the mic’’. ‘’I continued writing and improved and got onto Pirate radio’’.
The quality of lyrics and concepts on Wretchs mix tapes caught peoples ears with his mad concepts. For example he did a track called “Punctuation” where he went all metaphorical with the English language and people were impressed!. After that he did a lot of school tours and talks with primary schools, which he found easy as ‘’kids nowadays respect artists more than their teachers’’.
Soon after putting in all that hard graft Wretch started getting a lot more airplay and became Radio1Xtras most played mixtape artist in 2006.
He then sat down with his team of friends…his mate is his manager and like many an urban act, Wretch thinks its easier to keep his business in the fam and ‘’not listen to other managers cos a lot of them just talk’’. They boast “We will make you big and it all amounts to nothing”.
Currently working on his new album “Black and White” which is a quarter done with a single coming soon, Wretch has been chased by Radio1Xtra bigwigs to host his own show and is juggling being a good dad to his young son. The album concept differs from his past work on “Wretchrospective” but he reassures me ‘’its still intimate with a good vibe. In the past I may have been too conceptual’’. The new work includes tracks that talk about love-but not too much and generally the roller coaster of life and being in the industry. The one thing I love about Wretch is that he never talks too reckless-he understands the power of the irresponsible word.
Smiling with love he recounts to me that his young son means everything to him and tells him that when he grows up wants to ‘’be a screwdriver” LOLOL‘’. Look out for Wretch32. An articulate lyricist, a responsible father and a decent human being. That’s all!.

I want to also shout loud and proud about a young man called Jason Lewis who 3 years ago was working in clothing store Banana Republic and sent me a YouTube link to a parody of MTV BASE Black History Month and asked me to check it. Assuming I’d be annoyed by this young, whippersnapper nobody’s content I clicked through on my computer and watched with one eyebrow raised. I got it immediately. My team weren’t convinced but I could see his thought process and comedy angle were unique and what our audience would appreciate. I brought him into MTV to work with our team and the legal department to ensure we could deliver a workable script to film for the upcoming BLACK HISTORY MONTH. My bosses had already warned me that with resources being cut everywhere Black History Month plans weren’t concrete. However, Jason offered to make ours. With his own team of friends in his talented circle. between them Jason had a huge group of actors, directors, editors ,this kid was placing himself in successful circles and they were all pulling each other up together! To me it was mind blowing! To cut a long story short, Jason spent long, frustrating hours with myself and our legal advisor working on his scripts and making him understand the meaning of ‘slander’ and ‘libel’ before getting his own, basic 30 min show on MTV BASE called THE JASON LEWIS EXPERIENCE. Kudos to my boss at the time-Virginia Monaghan – for letting me persuade her on so many projects that I was passionate that should make it to air. Even though Jason’s work wasn’t at the time of the highest quality we were used to putting on air, Virginia saw the light, supported me and allowed me to bring in some very talented young people to the channel. Next, my pal that works at the BBC requested the DVD of Jason’s work and before you could say boo, Jason was called into the hallowed walls of the BBC building where for the last year has been working hard to make it. He’s had a few cameos in BBC comedy output and then last week a press release by the corporation was released confirming that they were shooting a pilot for Jason own show ‘THE JASON LEWIS EXPERIENCE’!. A beautiful story of a young ambitious, talented man that learnt to play by the establishments rules and slowly bent them into his own shape –congratulations Jason-I salute you!

Another similar story is that of Alexander Amosu. Years ago when I was working as a CHOICEFM presenter and covering the Ideal Home Exhibition at Earls Court a young man introduced himself to me and mentioned that he was selling ‘’R&B ringtones’’ as mobile phones were now popular with kids. I took his card, wished him well and moved on. Gradually I’d hear his name regularly as he climbed the ladder of success. He had built his company from the ground up and sold it for millions. Next he concentrated on the luxury market and became known for producing and selling high end designer things like a diamond encrusted IPod or phone, the most expensive suit in the world etc. He knew how to spin the current trends and now he is an established, respected business man. He held his birthday party a fortnight ago and as you arrived at the venue the first two things I spotted were a brand new white Audi R8 spider and a red Ferrari California! To complete the opulent entrance we were gifted a red rose branded with an Alexander Amosu logo whilst we sipped on champagne. Very indulgent but hey-the mans worked hard and has the right to celebrate his success on his special day. As we wandered around the room we noted on display ‘’that’’ world’s most expensive suit costing £70,000 and four show cases of diamond encrusted phones. Guest also had the chance to get their phones engraved with their names or logo for free as well as try out Mr Amosu’s new line of pin striped suits laced with your name, a revolutionary idea that’s bound to have numerous fans among the vain footballers or rappers worlds. You could smell the money in the room as guests filled the venue to capacity with paparazzi taking photos and a two camera crew following and filming Mr Amosu’s every move. (very damon dash LOL). The event kicked off with a video tape that showed Alexander’s journey to the top followed by a grand entrance with him coming through a secret door with African dancers and drummers! Soul singing legend Omar completed the fabulous evening by performing to guests that included Alesha Dixon, Clive Sharpe – chairman Golden Wonder Crisp, Chris Gorman – Chairman Quintessentially group, Micheal Birch – Founder of Bebo, Tinie Tempah, Duncan Bannatyne – Dragons den, David Pun – Director Harvey Nichols, Jim Ike – Nollywood Actor, Kanya King – mobo founder,, Emmanuel Jal, comedian Kojo. A very proud night for all present.