Month: October 2012

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JASMINE’S JUICE featuring James Bond and Cameo!


JASMINE WITH CAMEO AFTER THEIR SHOW, AT THE LEGENDARY JAZZ CAFE IN CAMDEN.
My uncle Johnny is a top money honcho at eon productions that make all the James Bond movies. Over the years I hear his amazing stories and anecdotes about the heads of the company-the legendary Albert ‘’Cubby’’ Broccoli and his daughter Barbara broccoli. The making of the James Bond films always sounds so exiting, romantic, top secret and the end product is always worth it. So when uncle Johnny offered me tickets to the cast and crew screening in Leicester square early one Saturday morning a week before the film was out in the public realm, I did of course jump at the chance. I
As expected, it was amazing! Adele kicks it off with the amazing theme song, which is true divalicious belting out of a ballad in typical bond style. Ca-ching goes her and her record labels already bulging weighed down pockets!
The opening scenes are always legendary aren’t they? I recall my last favourite opening scene was in Casino Royale film when they had parkour free running showcased. This time around the film opens with motorbike stunt riding highlighted and is breath taking! From the moment it starts it sucks you in for 2 and a half whole hours and you are gripped by the action and narrative, which this time around shows the evolving of the characters in the future. The ever-present ‘’Quarterman’’/ gadget man Q is a new nerdy very young teen looking boy who has years of acting left in him. Can you imagine his contract and the retainer this young actor must be on>? He really struck lucky. Similarly the film producers had to safe guard their infamous lady boss character M played by Judi Dench. They deal with the character so that M lives on. I wont spoil it for you in case you’ve not seen it yet –but Skyfall fall doesn’t disappoint. There are the regular product placement branded scenes focusing on Aston Martin, Omega watches, Adidas sneakers, and mobile phones but all done in the best possible taste.
Watching so much action shot in the streets of London with our buildings and tube trains excited me no end-I’m a proud Londoner and seeing it portrayed in movies like this makes me see that we can easily stand strong and equal against big bucks cities like new york on the world movie stage.
The 2 main young lead actress roles were cast to women of colour- a black woman-Naomi Harris and an Asian woman- Berenice Marlohe. That’s a huge deal in this day and age! My only gripe was I felt the females didn’t have as much sexy time and glamorous looks as in the past. I imagine the producers tried to keep with the diplomat themes of the current austerity themes. Oh well, I guess even Bond has to tighten his belt sometimes and get all A Team in the ‘’make your own weapons’’ moments! lol

Then all roads led for a whole week to Camden’s legendary Jazz Café for the much-awaited Cameo shows. I realised I’d been attending shows there now for 20 years and nothings changed in there. Same stage, same bar, same food on the menu. But it’s good and works.
Cameo were on fire! All their shows were sold out and nothing disappointed. Lead man known worldwide for his bright red cod piece- Larry Blackmon and the main vocalist Tomi were as strong as they ever were. The whole band was tight, sounded well rehearsed (the drummers solo wa impressive as hell!) and exactly as they did on record of not stronger. The members all dressed up in an array of crazy masks and capes as brilliant as Gene Simmons and Kiss costumes, and of course we all cheered when Larry took his place onstage with leather trousers and codpiece. All the press had been warned earlier to refer to him only as ‘’Mister Blackmon’’. Oh how I laughed! A male diva in an ocean of females. Hilarious! Also- as mister Blackmon walked past my dinner table, my industry pals and I gawped as we took in the size of his quite rotund, protruding butt. Honesty-it’s the biggest, juiciest ass on a male I’ve ever seen!
Mister Blackmon seemed a lot more serious than you’d imagine and warned his fans in the audience that they had better ‘’Buy Cameo’s next release, don’t download it for free or live music will cease to exist!’’. His rapping was as sick as ever. I realized he had been rapping with a charismatic flow hotter than most rappers had even been born!
He did make me laugh as he sternly informed the crowd ‘’A lot of people come up here and talk shit but I wanna tell u I really love you!’’.
The band performed all the classics like ‘’single life’’ and ‘’she’s strange’’ and ‘’candy’’. Candy was an eye opener as I imagined the whole crowd would be rocking and performing the now associated candy dance to it. But they didn’t. We then realized that the demographic in the show were older than the current clubbing generation and these oldies probably didn’t realize that the electric slide was now the ‘’candy dance’’. Halfway through the song mister Blackmon asked ‘’what happened to the electric slide?’’ Quick as a flash, determined not to let the teamuk side down, myself and my peps including BBCs Jay Davidson and Adidas boss Paola Lucktung sprinted down the stairs to the ground floor, pushed and weaved our way to the front of the crowd and led the dance troupe. It wasn’t the best exhibition of London showing what it’s got but was certainly an eye opener of how unconnected the oldies can become so fast!
All was okay with the crowd though when the Cameo classic “Hanging downtown” reminded the oldies of their 2-step favourite. They all danced in unison reminiscing about Sunday early morning scrubbing up in a party in their youth (and I don’t mean washing plates after food!).
Overall it was refreshing that the whole band took on lead on vocals and speaking throughout the show and of course when my fave ‘’ Word up’’ started, I literally sang at the top of my lungs and bounded around the top floor balcony bumping people like a monkey!. Come back again cameo- the people need more nights like this!

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JASMINE’S JUICE featuring RUMFEST and Omotola’s film premier for AMINA!


JASMINE AT RUMFEST.
Spend your social time with winners is one of the best pieces of advice my dad ever gave me.
Luckily my friends are an ambitious pro socially minded bunch so lunches and dinners are as much about catching up on personal lives as well as connecting our various career projects and making our networks and brands bigger. This week I caught up with a family member who’s an accountant for a big movie company and shrieked at him and my aunt until he promised me James bond film premier tickets. I met BBC Radio London’s most dynamic broadcaster Eddie Nestor for lunch and strong armed him into giving yet more young journalists a break in radio, I met up with international model Rachel Ritfeld for dinner where I convinced her to speak to reporters about the fashion industry and body image.
Next, over dinner, I convinced Sandra Fearon who runs body image London to come into the media Trust and give mentoring sessions and workshops to young disadvantaged youth about grooming and appearance in the workplace, then I called THE VOICE editors and begged them to pop in and give feedback to the new LONDON360 reporters about print press.

RUMFEST CEO / RUM AMBASSADOR IAN BURRELL WITH HIS BROTHER.
My next trip was to London’s Excel Centre in the docklands for the much anticipated annual Rumfest where Saturday was so sold out it was heaving like carnival and Sunday was as manic but better for me as I could have at least a square metres circumference around me to breath. The venue was full of rum enthusiasts and taste connoisseurs who were holding out their complimentary rum glasses for shots and cocktails at more than 40 stands promoting rum from across the globe.
As soon as I arrived I was greeted by Rumfest CEO’s Ian Burrell and his siblings; sister Sam and brother. Immediately after checking out the always fabulous goody bag that he handed to us (which this year included a soca mix cd) , we saw a tall gent who was tasting rum and my mate excited nudged me going ‘’ooh look it’s Patrick Vieira!’’ Patrick was standing drinking and chatting with another tall gent and my mate excitedly squealed ‘’and he’s with Mikaël Silvestre!’’

PATRICK VIEIRA AND MIKAEL SILVESTRE AT RUMFEST.
As you can imagine all of this went totally over my no football knowing head until music manager Richard Pascoe, who working in the vicinity, had a quiet word in my ear ‘’Jas don’t you recall when you were on CHOICEFM with George Kay-George taught you a football chant-it was the one for Vieira’’. It all came flooding back! George used to make me chant ‘’Vieira whoa oh oh oh oh, he comes from Senegal, her plays for arsenal’’ every Friday live on air. As this was the only thing I could think of sharing with him I felt it best to let it go, nod hello, and keep it moving.
We saw excited inebriated punters taking excited photos with the skimpy costumed carnival dancers (how much do they pay people to wear those?) interestingly this time it was just about leering at the skimpy girls in costume as they had male models too. I noted that whilst I had imagined there would be a dominance of men at the event that it was pretty 50-50 with the ladies in full effect too!
In the final round of the rum-mixing event I witnessed a number of big names from that world demonstrate rum cocktails with interesting mixtures including tamarind, chocolate and more. I was most surprised to see a representative from music legend Chris Blackwell’s rum company attend too. I had no idea this music man (who helped launch Bob Marley, Grace Jones and U2) also owned a rum brand called Blackwell’s!. I caught up with the mixologist (get me with the proper jargon!), who told me ‘’Chris Blackwell is an international music icon, entrepreneur and cultural pioneer. His reputation and lifestyle are the inspiration behind the brand, and he is proud to offer the best Jamaica has to offer. Chris hails from one of its oldest merchant families, the Lindo family, who first came to the island in 1625. His grandfather owned J. Wray & Nephew—renowned for distilling the best rum in Jamaica. Chris continues in the family tradition with the introduction of Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum, developed from his own recipe. With his music label, Island Records, Chris brought the best of Jamaican reggae to the world, now he brings you the finest Jamaican rum, made from Jamaican sugar cane and distilled by Jamaican workers. This isn’t a simple light rum, Blackwell Rum, known by Jamaicans as Black Gold, is colourful, rich and complex, like the spirit of this magical island’’.

JASMINE WITH RASTAMOUSE CREATOR MICHAEL DE SOUZA AT RUMFEST.
Just as I was making my way around the venue clocking merry old dudes, classy young bar owners, ladies holding their own up against the male swiggers I bumped into Rastamouse creator Michael de Souza whom I spoke to about how the children’s cartoon is doing and when it might be aired in the Caribbean. He revealed that they are indeed working on it.
As the designated car driver on the day I sampled a couple of cocktails before filling my shopping bag with one of my main loves in life- hot pepper sauce- which was being sold at one of the stalls too. Good thing too as at the end of the day I used a whole bottle on my roast chicken dinner just up the road.

Finally I headed off to Leicester square for my first ever Nollywood style film premier of AMINA. It was the movie Amina starring Nigeria’s biggest actress- superstar Omotola (whom I’d had the please of having dinner with a few weeks ago). The red carpet actually took 2 whole hours with TV and radio crews jostling for space amongst the countless African beauties in long embellished gowns and sexy frocks in an array of colours and headdresses. Many columnists were hanging around my the press boards hoping to grab a quick photo with Omotola before the film began but when the PR team advised us she hadn’t even left the hotel yet we decided we’d better take our seats. In the house were names like 400 metre athlete and Olympian Christine Ohuruogu. I was seated right behind English rapper/ actor Kano and his lady (who played a great role as the daughter in the film), so we giggled about how sharp his shape up was. I was sitting in between 23 males who were sharing a bucket of popcorn so it looked as if I was eating both theirs and my bucket.in case you spot any photos of Kano with me in the background, to clarify-mine was the small one!
The film was set in the UK and covers the story of Amina-a young girl brought up in a family where the father is violent and abusive. Amina’ tells the story of a young woman (Omotola) who, devastated by a series of life changing events, especially teenage pregnancy, suffers a total breakdown.
Her story develops and takes twists and turns until eventually she is institutionalised in a mental hospital. The film clearly had good intentions with its message and storyline and Nigerian actress Omotola was very believable and played her role well and with integrity. However the film was let down by things that were basics such as casting and focus pulling. Many scenes in the film had dodgy camera shots with focus unclear. Casting was questionable. First the adult character of Amina that Omotola plays has a strong African accent but the actress playing her in her youth was a straight up British cockney that looked nothing like her. Her mother was started off as a Jamaican and then seemed to take on African characteristics? Some scenes that were supposed to be set in the eighties and nineties had close ups on cars with 2011 tax discs! All these errors led to amusement and detracted from the film, which was a pity. Overall it was a good film with a serious message and dubious comedy moments which I’m not totally sure were intentional!
Now from one premier to another, I’m off to have a mani-pedi, hair done, make up done, personal trainer to get my silhouette into shape-as I’m off to…the James Bond premier!

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JASMINE’S JUICE featuring NeYo and An Evening with Jay Sean.


JASMINE WITH NE YO AT HIS MALIBU RED PARTY SHOW.
On a torrentially wet weekday evening in the centre of London when the streets were empty, miserable and cold a nightclub was full and sweaty at 7pm. loads of Ne Yo fans had gathered at an intimate performance by the king of melody which was in association with his new beverage Malibu Red. The venue was Salon in W1 which if you’re as old as me can recall raving at when it was called both Legends and Samantha’s!

Every urban music act worth their salt now have a liquid they insist on promoting to beef up their already inflated salary and whilst Puffy pushes Ciroc, Jay Z pushes Ace Of Spades champagne, Ne Yo drink of choice is Malibu Red. Throughout the evening a variety of cocktails were enjoyed-they tasted good too. Ne Yo jumped onstage in his trademark black suit, white shirt and trilby costume to an audience of what seemed to be 98% ladies all hot and excited about the superstar act. Halfway through his set he declared he was overheating and after yells of ‘’strip’’ from the ladies, obliged by removing both his jacket and shirt to reveal….nope…not a ripped body…but a t shirt! How many layers!
He did give the pervy ladies what they came for by proving there was a hot ripped body underneath with the expected and now obligatory Peter Andre t-shirt lift.
Afterwards loads of fans including singers Alexandra Burke and Preeya Kalidas queued to grab a pic with him as I sat with his right hand man/ tour manager Ronnie Stephenson and laughed at how far Ne Yo had come in a few years after taking the risk to go from already successful songwriter to stage star! Hey if you don’t try it, it wont happen!.

JASMINE WITH JAY SEAN AT ”AT EVENING WITH JAY SEAN”
From one very talented male music act to another…
Next I made my way to the Hilton hotel in Wembley to spend An Evening with Jay Sean. Don’t jump to any conclusions it wasn’t just us. It was a packed rooftop bar full of movers and shakers from the Indian community. The event was thrown by the UK Asian music awards and saw other stars like Adam Deacon and Preeya Kalidas turn out in support of their peer Jay. The evening started with a heaving red carpet area where TV and radio crews were jostling for space alongside staff from MTV, record labels, bloggers, Asian woman magazine crew and a number of new music acts to speak to the celebs attending. Champagne trays were being passed around and there was a genuine feel-good vibe in the air as all present were here to celebrate a man who’s succeeded against the odds. Jay Sean was being honoured by Asian music awards for being their most celebrated artist over the past decade.

JASMINE WITH ACTRESS/SINGER PREEYA.
Actress/ singer Preeya was rocking a big faux fur coat, her signature tights pants and high platforms, Prince’s manager Kiran Sharma was warm in a roll neck burgundy sweater dress, also in attendance were a number of big Asian acts like Juggy D, Adam Deacon was smart casual whilst his manager Dhanny rocked a suit and quiff!
Jay Sean arrived and the red carpet exploded in excitement. He was suited up in a black number whilst his lady wifey Thara looked stunning in a green Victoria Beckham-esque dress? Once all the red carpet interviews and networking were over the audience took to their seats as BBC ASIAN NETWORK breakfast show presenter Tommy Sandhu lead Jay through a very entertaining interview onstage. The conversation flowed, the information was intriguing and the laughs were aplenty. It made me wonder why mainstream UK TV hadn’t snapped up Jay Sean to appear on mainstream shows like the X Factor and Jonathan Ross show. I mean, this guy has achieved things not even Robbie Williams has abroad! He has had USA number 1 singles and albums, broken all download records, had its in every continent and is treated like a superstar across the globe so why not England?

JASMINE WITH ACTOR ADAM DEACON.
During the interview Jays family and friends were all present in the audience and Jay referred to them often. He added that his Mum dad grandma and best mates have supported his musical dreams since he was13 years old. Furthermore, he revealed that on trips back home to London he ‘’always stay at home with my mum and dad- why would I want a hotel? Mums is like a hotel when I’m home!’’ Jays mum looked embarrassed as he hot her up revealing ‘’ mum asks how are your label mates? That little man?’’ I reply ‘’ Mum do u mean Lil Wayne LOL?’’. And Jay’s dad can’t get with the whole YMCMB (young money cash money billionaires) tagline and refers to his label as ‘’money money’’. LOL

He has so far won 15 ASIAN MUSIC AWARDS, which is a record. Jay gushed ‘‘the reason AMAs is really important to us here is as it acknowledgment that we as young Asian musicians are doing something well. It’s like a teacher praising your work at school. Someone has to do it if no one else will. We can then continue knowing we’re doing the right thing’’ I will feel blessed when Imagine a few years on when peeps say “I grew up on your music” how old will I feel! I remember when the Asian underground music movement was happening. What we have now n the bangra scene is really unique. Now our music acts are getting younger”.

He explained that he was drawn to R&B, soul and hip-hop via his aunts playing Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder music whilst he was a kid attending Latimer Upper School. He looked touched as he said that his grandparents had worked hard doing menial jobs so that their children and grandchildren didn’t have to go through life struggling- it was his granddad who used to be singer in family. His father was a gifted county cricket player but wasn’t able to follow that dream through, as he wanted to work hard so Jay and his siblings had a comfortable life.
Jay also added that his dad always said there were only 2 things to decide in his life to stay focused; his decision for a lifelong partner and career choice. That’s those 2 boxes ticked then! He did reveal he’s really trying to break the film arena too but alas after a few auditions still hasn’t been cast but will continue trying. (See that never giving up attitude right there?)
We laughed as he recalled how when he used to rap at the age of 12 his mum didn’t like it, as she couldn’t understand anything he said and pleaded with him to do something she understood.
Jay was in the UK for a rare few days as he was about to board a plane for japan and Australia the next morning to perform on Australia’s X Factor. He sighed ‘’A lot of people don’t realize how many hours goes into this. I’m on a plane every 3 or 4 days. I’m off to japan tomorrow, performing in Australia where I can’t believe I’m so popular! I wrote a song for an Australian group- a boy band called “Justice Crew” which went to no1! And that stuff makes a lot of money so I love song writing for other artists like JLS too’’.
I love Jay’s humbleness LOL. He laughed ‘’It still shocks me when 20,000 people in Madison Square Garden are singing back my words to me- it just blows me away man. Performing with Alicia Keys was nerve racking. It was one of my finest moments. I pinched myself. We both work on the Keep a Child Alive charity”

Jay answered questions from the audience at the end so I asked him whether even though England states it is a very diverse multicultural and open inclusive society, whether the British media just don’t acknowledge his vast achievements globally?
He replied ‘’ I love representing this genre, my race and everything. That means more to me than trying to make money. That keeps me inspired. A lot of uk media that wrote me off early on and didn’t support me often pretend they do and now greet me with open arms but I don’t let that stuff get to me. I am a British music act. Not an Asian music act. I have competed with the best and done quite well-it would be nice to receive that praise but it is what it is’
So I end this weeks column asking in the same way that young black British acts weren’t let through the door and taken seriously a few years ago-are the current young Asian generation in the same place? Will record labels open their eyes to just how many Indian music acts are out there and how much money and spending power their community has? Why aren’t the UK mainstream media not shouting about Jay Sean- he’s had numerous number 1 hits and is a global superstar-bigger than Take That were internationally…answers on a postcard, e mail, carrier pigeon, twitter …all appreciated!

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JASMINE’S JUICE featuring SEANI B, ISIS PRISON BAFTA NIGHT and NAS!


JASMINE WITH BIRTHDAY BOY-DJ SEANIE B AND JAY DAVIDSON(BBC).

This week I’ve watched new up and coming London act Ruby Goe at her live gig at Camden’s infamous Barfly venue, accompanied superstar Jay Sean and his missus to a private intimate soiree thrown by the Asian Music Awards (more on that next week!) and old skool Radio1Xtra DJ Seani B’s old skool themed birthday party in Acton. As I rolled up I could immediately see what kind of party this would be. At midnight the club was empty with no queue outside. By 12,30am there were 300 people all trying to get in dressed in garms that were so outrageous and authentic I did wonder whether it was costume or their everyday garms? (Yep- I’m going straight to hell for that judgement LOL!). The party was popping from the get go. It was pure hood. Really old skool hood outfits, pure dance offs, shoes off gyrating and a different music set and DJ every 30 minutes so we heard swing beat, R&B, hip-hop, jungle, drum & bass, raga, dancehall, bashment and more. DJ’s included legends from Rampage sound system- Mike Anthony and psycho. Every time someone announced another birthday girl in the house the sparklers, goodie bags and Krispy kreme doughnut boxes appeared! Seani appeared in his Will Smith looking house party outfit of bright orange cap and shorts with a royal blue preppy blazer and announced that ‘’the future is bright the future is orange-via Primark’’! He then proceeded to work the party into a frenzy until 6am whilst knocking back copious amounts of pink champagne and Hennessey before making what he called ‘’ a documentary’’ which saw him yelling a variety of hilarious quotes to everyone’s mobile phones which were gleefully recording him to play back to him when sober!. I called it from the start. Hood! LOL. Happy birthday Seani!

JASMINE AT THE ISIS BAFTA SCREENING WITH FORMER YOUNG OFFENDER SHANE, ISIS PRISON GUVNOR GRAHAME HAWKINGS AND HACKNEY HEROINE PAULINE PEARCE.
Next I attended a film screening and post film panel debate at BAFTA in Piccadilly to view the short film that young offenders in ISIS prison in South London had scripted and help make called ‘’Getting Clean’’. It was a short comedy about a prisoner’s experience of society upon release and was very well written and entertaining. It made me wonder whether the public would ever be open to a prisoner’s film festival? In attendance were tastemakers, journalists, and prison staff, bloggers and young writers. The debate was lively, passionate and engaging. The panel also included Shane Boothe, Entrepreneur and ex-young offender , Niall Bryant, Head of Education, ISIS Young Offenders Institute , Pauline Pearce, Getting Clean actor and ‘Hackney Heroine’ of the 2012 riots , Steve Lennon, Film Producer and Project Tutor , Jason Warr, Programme Manager and Research Coordinator at User Voice.
The teams that had helped the film come together came from LIVITY (an organisation that helps engage young people), the big lottery and of course prison senior heads. Whilst the experience is invaluable for prisoners as it helps engage them, give them a positive focus, build their confidence, faith in their futures and team work, I did ponder about its ultimate potential…. whether with many employers thinking that ex criminals aren’t really employable and trustworthy, now that every company is doing CRB checks regardless of whether the staff member is working with young/ vulnerable people, how are the ex offenders ever going to find work and get that break? I wanted to ask panel host David Calhoun (from Time Out magazines film department) whether he would put his money where his mouth is and employ an ex offender within his film department but alas didn’t get a chance to.

Next I attended rehearsals for a new TV all women’s talk show called LADIES TALK. Headed up by writer, director and comedienne Angie Le Mar, the cast see’s a panel of ladies including American-British playwright, novelist and critic-Bonnie Greer, TV presenter / producer Jacqui Joseph , Jackie Michael and myself on a regular weekly talk slot on SKY TV where we will be discussing everything under the sun, topical events, saucy anecdotes, tell all stories and more with our weekly celeb guests! Its going to ruffle feathers let me tell you! If the rehearsals area anything to go by you will want to watch and be glued to your TV’s! We will be the better anecdote to loose women and the British even more entertaining version of Americas THE VIEW!


JASMINE WITH GODS SON-NAS!
I ended the week wonderfully when Paola (ADIDAS head honcho-in case you didn’t already know!), sent me some tickets to see my old sparring partner Nasir Jones. We have had many an interview in my MTV days where we would debate long and hard about music, the industry, his issues and life. Nas’ live London show at under the bridge was exactly as he always is-amazing! The venue was absolutely rammed like a New York club used to be back in the days of THE TUNNEL or like the Eminem movie 8 mile for you younger generation that cant relate to the real days of hip hop due to your birth year. It was so crowded in the club that each one of us barely had a 1 square foot of space to stand in such was the excitement to see this rap legend.
Unlike many of his peers who might rely heavily on stage sets, lights and pyrotechnics this was Nas at his usual raw best with a simple juxtaposition of DJ (Green Lantern), decks and his ever-famous ‘One mic’. Luckily for old and new fans he took it all the way back to first album-Illmatic and kept the big hits coming.
When he performed his single about his ex wife-singer Kelis, called ‘’Bye baby’’-(a song so deep and heartfelt where he wears his heart on his sleeve with much vulnerability) …he started talking about Kelis. He shared with us a story about how he had text her suggesting they have sex one last time before splitting. ‘‘Last night I text her saying can we make love just 1 more time but she didn’t answer LOL!’’
However, showing his pain he confessed to the audience ‘‘Ladies-when you got a good man-take care of him, don’t bug out if you messed up-some of you’ll need too much attention’’.
Disappointingly for the crowd, he didn’t perform his diss record to old nemesis Jay Z ‘(’ether’’) even though the crowd were chanting for it. He explained ‘’I’m glad you’re chanting for it, the fact that you’re doing that means I know that hip hop is in your heart, but that was then, this is now’’. We got a real sense of nas having grown up and put childish beefs behind him. Especially as he and jay are business partners and associates now.
Further showing his growth he added ‘’ I’ve come from ‘’life’s a bitch’’ to ‘’life is good’’ so see how my mind-set has changed in 20 years and my journey’’. We nodded. We understood. We chanted alongside him ‘’ Life’s a bitch and then you die, that’s why we get high ‘Cause you never know when you’re gonna go’’.
He kept his love for his family apparent when he performed his song ‘’daughters’’ from new album which talks about how he has to parent his child and includes the lyrics ‘’ They say the coolest playas and foulest heart breakers in the world, God gets us back, he makes us have precious little girls.
nas explained that his daughter Destiny, put a picture of condoms online on her instagram page and Nas was tweeted by fans to ‘’ ‘take care of his business’ understandably Nas was shook and berated his daughter in a song which she hated. Nas laughed as he described how he gave her a public global ass whooping in front of the world in this song that will live forever online and beyond.
He finished by saying he genuinely had a lot of gratitude that he was still playing live shows 2 decades down the line. This really was a once in a lifetime classic Nas show with a mix of both fans from every era as well as songs from each era of his career, clearly demonstrated when he did ‘’You can hate me now’’ and ‘’Made you look’’. People everywhere were slam dancing and I didn’t even have to move as I was being thrown around by the crowds’ momentum!
As my friend the female old skool rapper Cookie (Cookie Crew) told me ‘’that’s was hot! Straight outta the oven hot!’’

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JASMINE’S JUICE FEATURING ISIS PRISON, RUM CRUISE AND KOJO’S LONDON COMEDY DATE!

(ALL PICS IN THIS BLOG COURTESY OF RICHARD PASCOE)

JASMINE WITH RUM CRUISE/RUMFEST AMBASSADOR IAN BURRELL AND CARNIVAL GIRLS ON THE RUM CRUISE.
This week I’ve been back in prison for the young offenders prison TV special that London360 reporters are making. I’ve had cocktails with the Arts360 reporters, I attended BAFTA to view the film GETTING CLEAN by my mates across at Livity (a youth organisation that does great things with media and young people!), and ISIS prison and mostly been juggling life’s many bouncing balls! In August, Livity ran a programme of workshops with a group of young men at ISIS Young Offenders Institute aiming to build skills, confidence and awareness of their employment options on release. Subsequently, they formed ‘ISIS Films’, and pitched the idea for a short comedy entitled ‘Getting Clean’. With a little help from award winning film crew volunteers (including director Robert Samuels and actors Pauline Pearce (the ‘Hackney Heroine’) and Darragh Mortell (the Tracy Beaker show)), footage of ‘Getting Clean’ was shot on location and returned to the prison, allowing the group to practice using their editing skills. This screening showcased the creativity and commitment demonstrated by all those involved. It was followed by a panel discussion exploring the challenges and opportunities that rose during the project, and the potential for similar models to be used to tackle reoffending rates in the future. too many of our young people are following negative paths and a disproportionate number are in prison. this event really showed how they changed peoples lives and needs the government to empower more projects like this to give youth a focus, passion and skill for life.

JASMINE WITH BRITISH SUPERMODEL TIA WARD ON THE RUM CRUISE.
It’s very rare these days to find a restaurant that’s reliable, traditional and of the highest standard. Cottons in Camden in a spot that I’ve been visiting for years. It’s renowned in the London entertainment scene for its great food, warm tropical ambience and reliability. Any TV company I’ve ever been at has cottons on speed dial for when celebs want some good old fashioned west Indian food of quality and substance. Unlike many other Caribbean food businesses that open when they like and are dead rude with their service (shout out Roti Hut in Shepherds Bush), not enough seating to always cater for customers (Mr Jerk in W1), food always runs out (Grannies in Dalson)…..Cottons is always open when it says its working hours are, always has everything on the menu and doesn’t serve up curry goat bone curry instead of meat (shout out Cottons in N1-not to be confused with Cottons in Camden-the 2 aren’t related).

CARIBBEAN MEDIA MOGUL DOUGLAS GORDON MAKES DEALS WITH RUM AMBASSADOR IAN BURRELL ON THE RUM CRUISE.
I can call up Cottons manager Ian Burrell and book a last minute table for celebs to come and eat in the private rear seating area like I have done with Black Eyed Peas and Timbaland, or call up last minute with a big order to be delivered to a plush hotel like I’ve done with Mariah and Jay Z, or simply pop in for a last minute cosy dinner for 2 and each time the service is impeccable. So when Ian started his rum ambassador business I knew it would be on another level. A few years down the line, his rum workshops, tastings and festivals are legendary and global. He visits numerous countries where he hosts rum focused events. Ian told me ‘’ Rum is more than just a spirit, it’s a lifestyle. This is why RumFest is a lifestyle show, through the eyes of rum’’.

SOUTH LONDON LADS ENJOY THE CHICKEN WINGS AND RUM COCKTAILS ON THE RUM CRUISE!
His RumCruise on the Thames River is now an annual event that I’ve never been free to attend-until last week. It was the press launch for his annual rum festival- (RumFest), which this year is at The ExCel London, 1 Western Gateway. Royal Victoria Dock. London. E16 1XL, on Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th October 2012. Last year it was at Earls Court and was heaving with a diverse crowd all weekend. You may recall that as well as rum shacks and modern bars with ice sculptures all hosting rum tastings, there were carnival dancers, sound systems, live bands and…the porn legend Ron Jeremy who always attends! I took the day off work to experience the rum cruise and didn’t regret it.

JASMINE WITH RUM CRUISE PARTY PEOPLE INCLUDING ATHLETE TURNED TV MOGUL DU’AINE LADEJO, SINGER DELILAH AND LONDON360 REPORTER ROSA DOHERTY.

SINGER DELILAH WITH HER UNCLE-ATHLETE TURNED MEDIA MOGUL DU’AINE LADEJO.
God ensured the weather was warm and the party was on from 12noon till 4pm. the boat cruised twice the length of the Thames from the docklands, past embankment to Chelsea pier and it was breath taking to see our city from the water. The sound system played sweet summer sounds to the press, friends and family gathered, the carnival costumed ladies served rum cocktails of every coloured variety and danced with party attendees, British supermodel that the press recently became very excited about due to her beauty and brains Tia Ward attended, as did athletic legend now TV star Duaine Ladejo attended with his family, singer Delilah enjoyed the cocktails, singer song writer Michelle Escoffrey danced away, Jamaican media conglomerate Douglas Gordon and family travelled in all the way across the Atlantic to attend, it was a very unique event and a chance to experience the juxtaposition of London and rum in a way never done before-

SUPERMODEL TIA WARD WITH A LIL FRIEND AT THE RUM CRUISE.

JASMINE WITH SINGER DELILAH AND LIL FRIEND ON THE RUM CRUISE.

JASMINE WITH HER LIL NIECE AND CARNIVAL GIRLS ON THE RUM CRUISE.
By the end of the cruise all you could see were chicken bones in empty cocktail glasses, all you could hear was shrieking laughter and song, all you could feel was the vibration of feet on boat as the whole party did the cameo electric slide en masse! The sign of a great afternoon! See you for part 2 this weekend at Rum Fest!

JASMINE WITH COMEDIAN KOJO AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST ANTHONY JOSHUA.
Next radio host and comedian Kojo had his London date of his ‘Special Delivery’ comedy tour in Camden hosted by his employers CHOICEFM. On the night he was on fire with his unique wit, freestyle, quick-fire crowd heckling and ‘questions to Kojo’ sections of his show. Olympic gold medallist boxer Anthony Joshua was also in the area with us and had all the young ladies drooling and looking for an excuse to rub past him as they sashayed sexily back and forth. Also In the VIP with me was singer Alexandra Burke who was there with her sister and friends. It was her sister’s birthday and at the end of the night a cake was brought onstage as the 2 sisters wiggled on in their tight foxy dresses and heels to blow out the candles (which Alexandra had forgotten to bring!).