Why Jennifer Hudson Will NEVER be Adele - When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong

So since we got the Beyonce stans riled up on Monday, why not make it a complete set by riling up the Jennifer Hudson fans too :).  We'll throw a bit of salt in the wound by bringing up Adele for good measure.

Over on our Fabulous Facebook Fan Page, we chatted briefly about  this  Open Letter to Jennifer Hudson's management team over at Acts of Faith Blog ( the comments too).  In one of her recent posts, she compared Jennifer Hudson to Adele.  The open letter to Hudson's team about why Hudson hasn't achieved the superstar status her OSCAR and voice should have made easy captured my attention because I went through the same analysis related to Hudson, but reached a different conclusion. Faith said the following:

The problem is she’s singing ghetto music. The typical ‘woe is me, my relationship sucks’, ‘he done me wrong’ and ‘I don’t care if you love him he’s mine’ type crap that permeates black music today. It’s all negative and denigrating. Hudson needs a girl power anthem and to get away from the anemic mentalities that permeate R&B today. Acts of Faith

Sorry Faith, it ain't gonna happen. Doesn't matter which "team" you put around Jennifer Hudson, the problem isn't the "team", its Jennifer Hudson.

I too have greived over the squandered promise of Jennifer Hudson.... but no more.  Jennifer Hudson does not want me as a fan so my money is going elsewhere. I purchased one song off of her first album out of pity quite frankly and that will be my last. I love a good pain-filled love song about love, loss and regret, but Jennifer Hudson is addicted to misery music. Singing about being stuck in the most ridiculous relationships with the most ridiculous people.

Anytime Jennifer Hudson wants to, she can have what Adele has, but to do that, she's going to have to step out of her tiny little box and take a risk, and Jennifer Hudson won't do that.  

We all know a Jennifer Hudson or two. They are that person who is whip smart working in a dead in low-wage job because they were too terrified do anything about it. So instead of venturing out, they stay in the mail room for 20 years when they could have taken a whopping four semesters at community college and gotten an associate's degree or gone to welding school or just taken a risk on attempting something different.  We know others who settle down in their hometown instead of going off to pursue their dreams and you shake your head knowing that if only they'd gotten out to see a bit of the world or heck had merely traveled ten blocks outside of the neighborhood, they would have been wildly successful.  Jennifer Hudson is that neighborhood friend you couldn't convince to travel 10 city blocks to pursue life outside the bubble. The truth is, some people like living in tiny little boxes. Jennifer Hudson might be one of those people. 

Jennifer Hudson is terrified and scared -- Adele is not.   Pink was mentioned in the post about Jennifer Hudson and Adele as well. I have a half dozen (clean versions) Pink songs on the old ipod. If you don't count the Dream Girl's soundtrack, I only have one Jennifer Hudson song.  Pink took a massive risk and decided to plot her own course separate from what LA Reid wanted her to do and guess what? She was right. 

Does Jennifer Hudson have the courage to change course? Who knows, that's not my problem anymore. 

Look at Jennifer Hudson's constituency. Who do you think is attending those Weight Watcher's meetings? Who do you think was flocking to see Dream Girls? Who do you think voted to hand  her OSCAR for basically singing ONE. SONG? It wasn't the audience she's currently targeting with her song selection.  And by target audience, I don't mean White people, but people like ME who will still purchase an entire album. 

 I'm not paying for GARBAGE about "Where You At?." If I'm standing in the freezing cold after about 15 minutes, I'm not asking "Where you At?" I'm sitting in the toasty confines of my car driving off. 

Like you, I'm a fan, but I've given up the idea that Jennifer Hudson will have a Whitney Houston-like career. Same for Fantasia Barrino. I love both of their voices, Fantasia can actually bring me to tears, but to them life exists in a tiny little box and anything outside of it is terrifying.  I actually SEARCH for Fantasia songs to like because I LOVE her artistry, but no dice. The best you can hope for is when she covers someone else's' music in a tribute. 

Meanwhile Lil Wayne is going skateboarding and Jay-Z is running around collaborating with rockstars. Lil Wayne and Jay-Z know exactly who their audiences are. I think Jennifer Hudson is under the erroneous belief that by limiting her musical horizon, she will be repaid in loyalty from "the community." She will not. 

Jennifer Hudson doesn't have a power ballad because she doesn't want one. She'd rather be singing "Where You At?"  Not "Where Are You" or "What Is Your Current Location" or "Where Were You When I Needed You Most." Watching her publicity tour is disconcerting because she's been singing in places like the Oprah Show and Good Morning America, places she could not have gotten near without that OSCAR, yet instead of recognizing her audience, she decided to sing to people who were not there. The people in those audiences are not trying to get down to "Where You At." 

Have you ever seen that episode of The Wire where Bunny Colvin takes the kids out to a nice restaurant in Baltimore. Here, some of the roughest toughest  kids on earth are brought low by a butter knife.  You and I would think that they would love to eat out in a nice restaurant, but it took them out of their element and they floundered.

So yes, Jennifer Hudson has chosen to select incredibly narrow songs for her album.  And you know what? That's her choice! Maybe she likes her tiny little box.

 We always like to Blame institutions or "the system" or some other larger than life factor for why people make the choices and decisions they make. Sometimes people remain small because that's what they like. That's what they are comfortable with. Jennifer Hudson will never be a superstar singer as long as she keeps singing to a narrow audience. There are plenty of artists that have niche following and they do quite well for themselves. Its just that those artists don't get booked on the Today Show. You and I both recognize her potential for world domination on account of her access to huge platforms like Oprah, The Today Show, GMA, but she doesn't and all the open letters in the world won't change that. Appreciate Jennifer Hudson for what she is, a niche artist who occasionally stumbles onto cross over success.

Being a superstar at ANYTHING in life requires significant risk.  Jennifer Hudson isn't ready to "risk" leaving her tiny little bubble.  Which is ironic because the greatest risk in life is passing on the risk you should have taken. That's not just a lesson for Jennifer Hudson, its a lesson for all of us.

Here's my open letter :

Dear Jennifer Hudson,

 Your core audience loves your voice, but does not like the songs you choose to sing with that voice. You can see what a problem this might be. 

Yours in the Struggle,

The Blogmother

I can't wait to read the comments about this one :) Yes. I'm passionate about people who squander their gifts... their lives trying to impress other people.  Jennifer Hudson appears to be one of those people.

P.S. I REALLY was done with Jennifer Hudson when she made Oprah wait three hours to do an Oprah episode because Jennifer decided to go Kick it with Jaime Foxx at a Superbowl Party in the middle of a snow storm. She's not the brightest bulb. 

Jennifer Hudson Speaks About Her Family on Her Own Terms- Chris Brown Cries on Demand-BET Exec "You Can't Let a Black Man Fall."

Speaking of folks who are tripping over themselves this week to urge us to "forgive" batterers and domestic abuse, Jennifer Hudson has spoken out for the first time about the murders of her nephew, mother and bother - Julian King, Darnell Donerson and  Jason Hudson.  Jennifer Hudson spoke out on Monday's episode of VH1's Behind the Music.

"It's all a blur, it was surreal," she told "Behind the Music." "It was like I was outside of myself." The "American Idol" alum, 28, said the tragedy, which took place in October 2008, sent her into seclusion for weeks. "For almost two weeks straight . . . [I was] inside one room with just family and friends coming in and out," she told the VH1 show. "I prayed when I'd get up in the morning and prayed before I lay down at night." NY Daily News

The alleged killer is the husband of Jennifer's sister Julia. Many of you will recall my urging Julia to get the hey-el off of Myspace in the aftermath of her family's slaughter. Also, notice how Jennifer WENT AWAY and turned down acting roles to get her mind right. Notice how people are clamoring for a new Lauryn Hill album... notice how ABSENCE  instead of careening from one catastrophe to the next, whining on Twitter every other day and  demanding to be "forgiven" can work for people in the entertainment industry. As opposed to taking his friend Lloyd's "advice" to cry onstage.

“I told him, man, you gotta go up there, you gotta cry. You gotta really, um, show your heart to the world, and, um, they’ll understand. I think time heals all wounds.” Sandra Rose

No, Mr. Lloyd, there are some wounds that do not heal. Also notice BET Executive Stephen Hill saying what we all knew, that BET definitely has a double standard "You can't let a Black man fall." So um where was Rihanna's performance Stephen? Debra? Paging Debra Lee? This was a timely reminder as our comments are inundated by people who think that someone who beats, bites, scratches and kicks a pixie of a woman can be "redeemed" via musical selection.  Sure, Chris Brown could be a "changed man" or he could be  yet another violent person who leaves behind a string of broken lives in his wake. None of us know which he is, but I do know that running around treating him like a victim...of his own fists... tends to point to the latter and not the former. So in review, Jennifer Hudson is a victim. Chris Brown is NOT. Excuses to my non-Christian readers while I take care of some minor housekeeping matters related to an uptick in coloring book Christians coming up in my comments sections to use the Bible to cosset and coddle Chris Brown. Churchfolk who don't read the Bible , yet repeatedly reference it, are a minor pet peeve of mine. Y'all got one more time to come up in here incorrectly paraphrasing the Bible before I go all SUNDAY SCHOOL up in here for the entire month of July. I'm going to need biblical citations for your Biblical arguments that God supports those who use their superior physical strength to brutalize the weak.  I need the chapter AND the verse, none of this Noel Jones sound byte  mess y'all have been trying to use.  And NO, the Biblical coloring book does not count as  biblical reference material, I'mma need y'all to actually crack open the book with all the words as opposed to the pretty pictures. As I stated in the previous comments thread:

I don’t know what Bible you are reading. Yes God forgives, but he also destroyed entire cities, opened up a cravath and swallowed people whole. Oh yes, and on the cross Jesus was surrounded by a thief and a murderer, they were forgiven… they were also crucified. Stop getting your biblical principles from reading Christian coloring books. Sheesh am I the only one that spent over 30 years in Sunday school? Stop using the Bible to justify brutalizing the weak. If anything Jesus would be disgusted with all of you advocating on behalf of the strongest beating up the weakest… THAT AIN’T BIBLICAL and I triple DARE any of you to find me a verse where God, Jesus, Moses, Paul, Deborah, Jonah or the whale take the side of the strong over the weak. Jesus does NOT forgive you for all of your mess, if that was the case, there would be no HELL.

Was that snarky? Yes, but if you crack open the New Testament and look at the red lettered text, you will find that Jesus was anti-foolishness as well. Can you say Pharisees? ( Luke Chapter 11 for those flipping through their Bibles)? He did not hesitate to call people fools, hypocrites. He even routinely clowned his own disciples.... all you paraphrasing "Christians" would know that if you read the Bible as opposed to relying on quotes from Tyler Perry characters. Previous Posts Pardon Me a Moment While I leave the Room: “Julia Hudson Won’t Let the Devil Win” Julia Hudson ‘s MySpace Madness: Misunderstood, Mentally Ill, or Run-of-the-Mill Stupid?

Click to read more ...

Julia Hudson 's MySpace Madness: Misunderstood, Mentally Ill, or Run-of-the-Mill Stupid?

Is Julia Hudson the most misunderstood grieving mother in America? There but for the grace of God go any of us. Few people on earth can know what it feels like to lose their mother and their child in a single instance -let alone go through the additional loss of a sibling. There isn't any model for the "appropriate" range of emotions a person is supposed to feel, but there is an acceptable range for what they should display publicly. Sorry, its true. Irrespective of how someone grieves, society's dictates are not applied on a case by case basis. There is a range of acceptable public displays, and when you fall outside of that range, its generally a bad look. Case in point, Julia Hudson's MySpace Misadventures. Human beings are entitled to grieve in their own time, HOWEVER when you offer up an invitation to the world to witness and comment on various aspects of that grief through the Madness of Myspace, then you assume the risk that we might take you up on said offer. A week and a half ago, I urged Julia Hudson to make her public MySpace page private. She took my advice, but not before assembling a sizable number of Myspace Friends who continue to be able to view her MySpace postings. Prior to going "private" on Myspace, bloggers were fascinated by the fact that Julia Hudson was continuing to accept Myspace friends even has her son Julian was missing. Her postings were foul and riddled with coarse, sometimes sexually explicit language and the page contained photographs of her "husband" William Balfour who was a "person of interest" in the execution of Julia's family. On last week however, news broke that Julia had made some "updates" to her MySpace page with photos that appear to be before or after the memorial service held for her family. Julia takes time to introduce us to her "new boo." She stands in the background of a photo of Fantasia Barrino asking "who's the bigger star Tasia or me". But perhaps the most disturbing to those of you who felt the need to email me is a group photograph that says now that Julia's brother Jason Hudson is gone, Julia is now "the prettiest one." Apparently Jason used to joke that he was the "prettiest" of the three Hudson siblings. You can see all the photos at TMZ, Sandra Rose, and The YBF.  I am going to assume that Julia's Myspace page has not been hacked and that she is the person responsible for its current appearance OTHERWISE we should have heard a vocal and adamant denial of these recently posted pictures. In other words, Julia was providing additional evidence to cement the conclusions many people have begun to leap to, but won't say out loud. Perhaps Julia Hudson the most misunderstood grieving mother in America? Maybe she is just suffering from a serious bout of some unknown mental disorder or is Julia Hudson merely stupid for posting these pictures online? I'm not judging. I'm just asking the question. Now I happen to be related to an individual, who much to my complete and total DISMAY, likes to take photographs right before funerals and the family dinners at the conclusion of the burial. Not because they are macabre, but because in many families, funerals are the closest thing you will ever get to a family reunion. In many cases, those funeral photographs are all we will ever have. So while creepy and borderline inappropriate, there is a method to the madness. Julia Hudson's latest MySpace escapade is something altogether different. I don't know about the rest of you, but one week after I lost three relatives in a brutal murder, including my own child, I would still be in bed knocked out on "nerve pills" or hooked up to an IV of high fructose corn syrup. Julia Hudson is not me. Perhaps she has been gifted with a unique brand of resilience that has allowed her to quickly bounce back through the power of MySpace and her Miraculous MySpace friends. Perhaps she is in a state of shock and posting these pictures is her way of coping. Or perhaps Julia has, been, and will always be an impulsive person with impaired judgment and her Madcap Myspace Misadventures are just the latest manifestation of that poor judgment. I ignored the criticism that Julia's hair was too perfectly coiffed during the press conference where she pleaded for the return of her son, maybe she got her hair done before the murders or maybe a family friend forced her to do her hair and take care of herself. Ignored my initial reaction that that same press conference where she seemed either nonchalant, matter of fact or detached, and chalked it up to the fact that Julia was likely heavily medicated, because surely losing your mother and brother would make you a wreck and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. So I am not criticizing Julia for grieving in her own unique way by posting photographs on her Myspace page with "her new man" while dressed in funeral garb.I will chalk the caption says that now that her brother is dead, she is the prettiest one, maybe that's an inside joke.... THAT SHE CHOSE TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD. No.No. I am not criticizing her for that. There is an acceptable PUBLIC range of human emotions following a tragedy like this and hugging up with your new boo while your HUSBAND is in jail is not a good look. "Joking" that the murder of your dead brother made room for you to now be the prettiest one is not a good look.Appearing to revel in the attention that the slaughter of your family has brought you, by snapping pictures with celebrities and asking "Who's the star. Me or Tasia?" is not a good look. In addition, to Julia Hudson lived in a home where all the other occupants were killed, that alone ought to raise some eyebrows. A person of average intelligence can assume that if the person or PERSONS who managed to do this were able to obtain Jason Hudson's gun and his car keys and get Julian King into the car in broad daylight without drawing attention, then they likely had semi intimate knowledge of what went on in that household. Let's see. That's William Balfour, a former occupant and hmmm let me see who else? Oh yes, Julia Hudson. Being incapable of differentiating between fame and INFAMY is not a good luck. Julia, people aren't interested in you or your life because of who you are. They are interested in you because of who your sister is and what happened to HER family. So to the family and friends that haven't put a stop to the MySpace Madness because it is inappropriate and FOUL, put a stop to it because it may very well place Julia's liberty in jeopardy or WORSE be used by the defense team of those that are eventually charged with this murder to point the finger at Julia. Myspace could equal reasonable doubt. So far the Myspace madness is screaming potential MOTIVE! MOTIVE! MOTIVE! Maybe Julia's "new boo" will read this blog post and step up and sit her down and have a conversation with Julia about the wisdom of publicly distributing photographs the could be used to incriminate her in a triple homicide, lead to the acquittal of those responsible or convict her in the court of public opinion. Perhaps some wise person will hog tie Julia to the floor and delete the whole Myspace account all together. Its too late to keep the photos from being used in the court of public opinion against her, but it may prevent future lapses of run of the mill common sense. I wouldn't be surprised if MySpace hasn't already received an order or have one headed their way right now. Notice to all of the apologists and enablers, I haven't written ONE WORD about the choices and decisions ALL of the adults in Julian King's life made which may have lead to his brutal death. This isn't an indictment of Julia's parenting skills, or lack there of, I'll save that for LATER. Right now, we need to know who MASTERMINDED the plot and the PERSONS who PLANNED and carried it out. Julia Hudson Balfour's MySpace page is an unwelcome distraction. This isn't about Julia's parenting skills or the struggles of single Black mothers. This is about common sense. Period. If not the common sense of a grieving mother then the common sense of those who purport to love and care for her. Only God knows what is going on inside the heart of Julia Hudson right now, but this post isn't about what's going on in her heart, its about the image she is electing to show to the world. Right now that image, in light of the release of these most recent photos and captions, is BAD. Julia, I noticed that your pictures were filled with family and hopefully some friends. Real life human friends, not virtual friends on Myspace. Julila, its time to end the Myspace Madness. NOTE TO THE COMMENTS SECTION This blog does not refer to or publish comments referring to Black women as B*tches and Hoes. Nor do we publish profanity. So irrespective of your feelings about Julia Husdon, you need to find some other ways in which to express your displeasure. Some of you have had truly insightful comments that have have been purged because of this lapse. WE ARE NOT CRIME STOPPERS In addition, this is a blog, not CRIME STOPPERS. If you have information that you believe might lead to the person or PERSONS responsible for the murders of Julian King, Jason Hudson, or Darnell Donerson, then you need to contact the Chicago Police Department and stop posting long rambling comments on blogs like this one. If you are too afraid to email or call then write your thoughts on a blank sheet of paper and mail your thoughts to this address: Chicago Police Department

Address:	3510 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60653
E-mail:	CLEARPATH@chicagopolice.org
Telephone:	312-744-4000 (Non-emergency)

Sincerely, WAOD Customer Service Coordinator

Click to read more ...

Michelle Balfour SHUT UP! Julia Hudson, Put Your MySpace Page on Private

I am holding my mule y'all on the whole Jennifer Hudson situation out of outright compassion. I can't bring myself to pile on before Jennifer's family is buried in the ground.  I could write about twenty posts about Michelle Balfour, the Mama of the main "person" of interest and Julia Hudson, Jennifer Hudson's sister and mother of little seven year old Julian Hudson. Look at MIchelle Balfour on Nancy Grace. If you will recall, Michelle Balfour came out while Julian was still missing to say her son didn't do this. COMPLAIN about having to leave work early and to declare that she didn't raise "no murderer." Well let's see, her precious son was already CONVICTED of attempted murder and drug possession. William Balfour's father apparently is serving 30 years on murder charges and William's brother is serving drug dealing charges. So CLEARLY Michelle you are in no position to judge the criminal proclivities of the men you procreate with and give birth to. So be quiet. Your son, even if he is innocent was clearly trifling and maybe if you had been a better parent you wouldn't have chosen a murder as your mate and produced two criminals. Julia, It's time for your Wilderness Journey... Get the HECK off of MYSPACE!!! Julia, please for the love of God, I understand wanting to connect with people online, that is laudable, but you need to cut the cord and DEAL WITH THE REAL WORD!!! Stop using Myspace to vent and put your profile on PRIVATE. You can still interact with all of your "friends" online. Y'all don't even go look at the Myspace page because if she hasn't changed the content of the page, it is going to give about half of y'all instant aneurysms.

I GUESS IT’S TIME TO UPDATE THIS WHEN I STARTED MY MYSPACE ALL OF THE ABOVE WAS TRUE, NOW BECAUSE I CHOSE TO DO WHAT WAS NATURAL TO ME AND LOVE SOMEONE, IT COST ME MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY MY WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL LOVING SUPPORTING MOTHER DARNELL, MY TRUE BLUE BABY BROTHER JASON , I LOVE U BIG BABY … AND LAST BUT NEVER NOT LEAST MY ONLY SON JULIAN , MY INNOCENT BABY ONE THAT WAS SHELTERED FROM ALL THE EVIL IN THE WORLD BECAUSE WE LOVED HIM SO MUCH Julia Hudson on Myspace

In case none of your relatives will tell you, its INAPPROPRIATE! It was inappropriate before this tragedy and only moreso now. I will not comment on the content of the Myspace page because I mean the Lord is really working on me in this case. To be blunt. I like Jennifer Hudson. Always have. All the way back to American Idol. Loved her in Dream Girls and watch it just to see her sing "And I am Telling You." Ran to the theater to see it. If Julia was NOT Jennifer Hudson's sister, I already would have been to the right and to the left, but reading that "LOVE" is responsible for this horror just makes my blood boil. But I am going to hold my mule! Hold my mule!!!

Click to read more ...

Julian, I Hope You Are Okay

Julian, Precious I know it is selfish of me, but I hope you aren't with your Grandma right now. I hope you''re hiding because you are scared and may be too traumatized to talk. Or maybe you are hurt and can't move. Or maybe some bad people have you and are trying to make up their minds what to do. I have a nephew who is about your age. He has a smile just like yours. You remind me of him. I am so sorry that the dysfunction of the adults around you may have touched your young life. Wherever you are, whether you are with your grandma and uncle or still with us here on Earth, I hope that the loving arms of God hold you and give you the peace you richly deserve. Jennifer Hudson is offering a $100,000 reward for the return of her nephew Julian King. I still believe in miracles. More video after the jump.

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson has announced that she and her family are offering a $100,000 reward for the return of her 7-year-olf nephew Julian King, who has been missing since Hudson’s mother and brother were found shot to death Friday at their Englewood home. “We ask that all inquiries be directed to the Chicago Police Department, Wentworth Area Detective Division at 312/747-8380,” said the statement from Hudson’s publicist. “Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian. Source

William Balfour's Mother: "I didn't raise no murderer."

Click to read more ...