FreddyO

Kandi, RL, Toya Wright, Shamea Morton, & More – New Store Opening ‘Elle Mari’

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August 23, 2018

Atlanta loves a new business opening, especially when the guest list looks like a family reunion. Kandi Burruss, RL, Toya Wright, Shamea Morton, Monyetta Shaw, and more stepped out in Mableton to celebrate the grand opening of Elle Mari, the new boutique from Lena Danielle and Charity Luvs. FreddyO was inside as friends, shoppers, and supporters got their first look at the space and the fashion.

Toya served as guest host and helped welcome the crowd, while Kandi, RL, Shamea, Monyetta, and the rest moved through the boutique checking out the racks and showing love to the owners. The best part of an opening like this is the energy around it: two women turning years of styling, jewelry, and retail experience into a brick-and-mortar home, and a circle of friends making sure the launch felt like a celebration instead of just another ribbon cutting.

Elle Mari is bringing affordable, statement-making fashion to the edge of Cobb County, complete with the kind of pretty, photo-ready touches that make shoppers want to linger. It also matters that the room was full of Black women supporting Black women in business. From celebrity friends to everyday customers, everybody understood the assignment: show up early, spend, post, and help a new brand get its first day off the ground.

Press play above to walk the opening with us — the arrivals, the shopping, the laughs, and the love — then keep scrolling for more FreddyO exclusives. Congratulations to Lena and Charity on the new store. Atlanta, Elle Mari is officially open for business.

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Atlanta, Celebrity News

Light Skin Keisha Performs Live

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August 20, 2018

Atlanta, the future is female, and it is loud. At Streetz Fest 2018, Light Skin Keisha hit the stage and showed the whole city why her name keeps ringing from the Eastside to everybody’s timeline, running through Treadmill and Believe Dat with the confidence of a headliner who has been doing this for years.

Keisha’s come-up is pure Atlanta internet era: personality first, punchlines everywhere, and a stage presence that refuses to be ignored. What separates her from a hundred other viral names is that the live show backs it all up — the energy, the dancers beside her, the crowd responding like they came specifically to see her. Streetz Fest, Streetz 94.5’s big annual stage, is where this city checks to see who is really real, and that crowd gave Keisha her answer loud and clear.

In a year when Atlanta’s women are running rap and running it their way, Keisha is carving out her own lane without asking anybody’s permission: funny, fearless, and very serious about her business. Nights like this are exactly how local stars become national names — one stage, one city, one unforgettable set at a time. If this performance is any indication, her moment is not coming. It is already here.

Press play above and watch her work the Streetz Fest stage. Then tell us in the comments — is Light Skin Keisha next up out of Atlanta?

21 Savage, Lil Baby, Light Skin Keisha, City Girls Headline Show

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Atlanta, Celebrity News

Shocking ‘City Girls’ Performance ‘I’ll Take Your Man’ Girl Take Over Stage

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August 20, 2018

Miami is in the building! The City Girls are the hottest duo in the game right now, and this performance of their hit “I’ll Take Your Man” shows exactly why the whole culture is watching JT and Yung Miami. FreddyO has the footage of the ladies shutting the stage down — and just wait for the moment a girl from the crowd takes over the stage and has everybody screaming. This is a City Girls show, so you already know it gets wild.

The City Girls, straight out of Miami on Quality Control Music, dropped their debut project Period this year and it has been a City Girl summer ever since. “I’ll Take Your Man” is the record that started it all for the duo, flipping a Miami bass classic into a bold, talk-your-talk anthem that girls everywhere are reciting word for word. And with Drake’s “In My Feelings” sitting on top of the charts with everybody doing the Shiggy challenge, the City Girls’ name is ringing louder by the day.

That energy is all over this performance. JT and Yung Miami feed off the crowd, the crowd feeds it right back, and when one brave girl gets her moment on that stage, the whole room loses it — the good kind of chaos only a City Girls set can create. Raw, fun and unapologetically Miami, this is the new wave of female rap in real time, and the fans in attendance got a story they will be telling all summer.

Salute to the City Girls for another unforgettable show. Press play and watch the takeover for yourself, and let us know in the comments: would you have had the nerve to grab that stage moment?

Watch more exclusive videos on the FreddyO YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@freddyo1983

Atlanta, Celebrity News

Faith Evans, Stevie J, Dallas Austin, Bobby Brown, & More At 2018 Black Music Honors Awards

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August 20, 2018

Black music royalty was honored in a major way at the 2018 Black Music Honors, and FreddyO has your look at Faith Evans, Stevie J, Dallas Austin, Bobby Brown and more in the building for the big night. The awards celebrate the legends who built the soundtrack of our lives, and this year’s honorees are a lineup that needs no introduction: hitmakers, icons and architects of the Atlanta and R&B sound alike.

All eyes were on Faith Evans and Stevie J, who tied the knot in Las Vegas just last month and are still the talk of the culture. The newlyweds stepped out looking like music royalty, and Faith being honored is only right: the First Lady of Bad Boy gave us “You Used to Love Me,” “Soon as I Get Home” and a voice that defined an era of R&B. Stevie, the hitmaker behind so many of those Bad Boy classics, was right there soaking up the moment with her.

Bobby Brown being celebrated always hits home, because there is no New Edition story, no King of R&B conversation and no modern male R&B star without him. And Dallas Austin represents Atlanta to the fullest: the producer behind TLC, Monica and Boyz II Men, whose sound helped put this city on the map. Put all of that greatness in one room and you get a night that reminds everybody exactly whose shoulders today’s stars are standing on.

Mimi Faust Talks Stevie J & Faith Evans Wedding

Salute to all of the 2018 Black Music Honors honorees for the decades of timeless music. Press play and take it all in, and let us know in the comments which of these legends has the most classics!

Watch more exclusive videos on the FreddyO YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@freddyo1983

Atlanta, Celebrity News

T.I. Talks How Trap Music Made Him A Millionaire & Celebrates Trap Music Album 15th Anniversary

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August 15, 2018

Fifteen years. Let that sink in. T.I. is celebrating the 15th anniversary of Trap Muzik, the album that didn’t just change his life — it named a whole genre and changed hip-hop forever. FreddyO caught up with the King of the South as he reflected on how writing about what he knew growing up in Bankhead, the trap itself, turned a young Atlanta hustler-turned-rapper into a millionaire and one of the most respected voices in the culture.

In the video, Tip breaks down the origin story. Back in 2003, his first album hadn’t connected the way he’d hoped, and for Trap Muzik he made a decision: tell the whole truth about the life he actually came from. Records like 24’s, Be Easy, Rubber Band Man, and Let’s Get Away did the rest, and the album went platinum and gave a name — trap music — to the sound of Atlanta’s streets. Tip has always been clear about the message underneath it: the music documented the environment he survived, and the business he built from it is how he made sure he never had to go back.

Fifteen years later, look around: trap is the dominant sound in all of popular music, and its blueprint traces right back to this album and this city. Tip has continued building on that foundation with Grand Hustle, film and TV, his family, and investing back into Atlanta, including on the Westside he’s always represented. But as he says in moments like this, it all starts with the music — and with a young MC betting on his own story when nobody else would.

Press play above and hear T.I. tell it himself — how trap music made him a millionaire and what fifteen years of Trap Muzik means to him — then keep scrolling for more FreddyO exclusives. Where does Trap Muzik rank on your list of the greatest Atlanta albums ever? Talk to us in the comments.

T.I. Pays Respect To Gucci Mane & Shawty Lo

Watch more exclusive videos on the FreddyO YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@freddyo1983

Atlanta, Celebrity News

40 Shocking Hair Styles – ‘Worlds Biggest Black Hair Show’

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August 14, 2018

Only in Atlanta! The Bronner Brothers International Beauty Show, the world’s biggest Black hair show, took over the city once again, and FreddyO was front and center to capture the wildest, most shocking hairstyles to hit the floor. We are talking sky-high sculptures, neon colors, gravity-defying creations and looks that have to be seen to be believed. Hair is art in the A, and these stylists came to make a statement.

For decades the Bronner Brothers show has been the Super Bowl of Black beauty, drawing tens of thousands of stylists, barbers, brands and beauty lovers to the Georgia World Congress Center. The highlight for many is the fantasy hair competition, where the best of the best turn hair into full-blown masterpieces, complete with props, moving parts and themes that push creativity to the limit. One minute you are looking at a classic silk press, the next a hairstyle shaped like a whole city skyline walks right past you.

Atlanta is the hair capital, home to celebrity stylists like Derek J, who fans know from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and a beauty scene that sets trends the rest of the country follows. In this video FreddyO walks the floor and takes in all forty of these jaw-dropping styles, from elegant updos to creations so bold they stopped the whole convention floor. Whether you are a stylist looking for inspiration or you just love Black creativity in full effect, this is the show to see.

Salute to Bronner Brothers for another legendary year, and to every stylist brave enough to dream this big. Press play and count them down with us, then tell us in the comments: which of these forty shocking styles was your favorite, and which one would you actually rock?

Watch more exclusive videos on the FreddyO YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@freddyo1983

Atlanta, Celebrity News

Atlanta’s New Freaknik ‘Freakem Fest’ Recap

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August 13, 2018

Atlanta loves a comeback, and this summer the city tried to bring back its most legendary party of all time. Freakem Fest — billed as Atlanta’s new Freaknik — took over this weekend, and FreddyO was on the scene to capture the cars, the fashion, the music and the turn-up in our exclusive recap.

If you know Atlanta history, you know Freaknik was the spring break destination of the 80s and 90s, when students from HBCUs all over the country flooded Peachtree Street and turned the whole city into one giant party. The original Freaknik was shut down in the late 90s, but the legend never died. Every few years somebody tries to bring that energy back, and this year Freakem Fest stepped up to take on the challenge.

What set this one apart is that it brought the spirit of Freaknik into an organized festival setting, with stages, performances and room to actually enjoy the moment instead of sitting in gridlock on Peachtree. The crowd came dressed to be seen, the whips were clean, the DJs kept the classics rolling, and the whole day felt like a family reunion for everybody who grew up on Atlanta party culture.

Xscape first performance together at Essence Festival 2017

Of course, festival season in the South has been on fire this summer — Xscape had fans in a frenzy down at Essence Festival in New Orleans just last month — and Atlanta made sure its own party held its own. Whether Freakem Fest becomes the annual tradition that Freaknik once was remains to be seen, but this weekend proved one thing: this city still knows how to show up and show out.

Watch more exclusive videos on the FreddyO YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@freddyo1983

Atlanta, Celebrity News

BET Killer Curves Movie -The truth About Black Market Plastic Surgery Event

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August 12, 2018

This is the conversation everybody needs to hear. FreddyO was in the building for the BET Killer Curves event, celebrating the network’s powerful special about the truth behind black market plastic surgery — the illegal butt shots and cut-rate procedures that are putting women’s health, and even their lives, at risk all over the country.

Killer Curves digs into a world a lot of people only whisper about. Chasing that picture-perfect body, too many women are turning to unlicensed injectors working out of hotel rooms and houses, pumping who-knows-what into their bodies for the right price. The special lets real women tell their stories in their own words — the infections, the emergency surgeries, the mounting medical bills and the heartbreaking cases where somebody’s daughter, sister or mother didn’t make it home at all.

The timing couldn’t be more real. This year K. Michelle has been taking fans along on her own journey, opening up about having her illegal injections removed after years of pain and health scares, and warning other women not to go down that same road. When a star with her platform keeps it that honest, it forces the whole culture to stop scrolling and pay attention — and that was exactly the energy in the room at this event.

Salute to BET for putting this conversation in front of everybody instead of sweeping it under the rug. If you or somebody you love is thinking about taking a shortcut to a new body, watch Killer Curves first — then press play on the videos above for more of FreddyO’s BET coverage, from the new movie premiere recap to all the action at the BET Social Awards.

Watch more exclusive videos on the FreddyO YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@freddyo1983

Atlanta, Celebrity News

Basketball Wives Malaysia Celebrates Birthday With Kandi, Bambi Scrappy & More

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August 10, 2018

Happy birthday, Malaysia! The Basketball Wives star took over Atlanta this weekend to celebrate her birthday, and FreddyO was in the building for a night that brought out some of the city’s favorite faces. Malaysia Pargo partied with Kandi Burruss, Bambi and Lil Scrappy right by her side, and the love in the room was real from the moment the birthday girl walked in.

Malaysia has been holding it down on Basketball Wives for years, and season seven is heating up on VH1 right now, so the timing was perfect for a celebration. Off screen, the mother of three has been focused on her babies and her business since her split from Jannero Pargo, and her glow-up is speaking for itself. Kandi stays booked and busy herself, from The Real Housewives of Atlanta to her Old Lady Gang restaurants, and she still made time to celebrate her girl.

Bambi and Scrappy had even more to celebrate this summer. The couple, who tied the knot last fall, are expecting their first child together this year, and Bambi’s baby bump made the sweetest plus-one at the party. Between the cake, the music and a room full of people who genuinely love her, Malaysia’s Atlanta birthday was one for the books, and if this crowd is any indication, her year is only getting started.

Monyetta Shaw Birthday Party — Kandi, Keshia Knight, Toya Wright

Press play to step inside Malaysia Pargo’s birthday celebration with Kandi, Bambi, Scrappy and more, and drop your birthday wishes for the Basketball Wives beauty in the comments below.

Watch more exclusive videos on the FreddyO YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@freddyo1983

Atlanta, Celebrity News

How 15 Year Old Hair Stylist & His Mom Overcame Depression Remy Ma & Tamar Braxton STORY

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August 9, 2018

Everybody loves a comeback story, but this one right here is going to touch your heart in a whole different way. FreddyO sat down with a 15-year-old hair stylist and his mother for a real, honest conversation about their journey through depression, and how faith, family, and a gift for hair helped them climb out of the darkness together. It is the kind of story that reminds you to never judge a book by its cover, and that no storm lasts forever.

At just 15 years old, this young man is already doing hair like a seasoned pro, styling clients and building a name for himself while most kids his age are worried about homework and video games. Behind that talent, though, was a silent battle. He and his mom open up about the heavy days, the tears nobody saw, and the moments when giving up felt easier than pushing through. Their honesty is powerful, especially in a community where so many people suffer in silence instead of reaching out for help.

What makes their testimony so moving is the way they leaned on each other. Mom stood in the gap for her son, and when her own strength ran low, his gift and his determination gave her a reason to keep going. Hair became more than a hustle. It became therapy, purpose, and proof that your talent can heal you while you are helping everybody else look and feel beautiful. Hearing them shout out the women who inspire them, including Remy Ma and Tamar Braxton, shows just how far their light is already reaching.

If you or somebody you love is fighting a quiet battle right now, press play and let this mother-and-son story minister to you. Share it with a friend, with a young stylist chasing a dream, or with any parent who needs to hear that a rough season is not the end of the story. Then keep it locked to the gallery below for more from the world of celebrity beauty, including how to make it as a celebrity stylist and Tamar and Remy’s hair do’s and don’ts.