Former Bad Boy Loon Turns Muslim

Former Bad Boy artist Loon has made a declaration to change Hip-Hop following his conversion to orthodox Islam.While reports surfaced last year of Loon’s (now named Amir Junaid Muhadith) conversion, the Harlem rapper recently made a public declaration on Al Jazeera, the sole independent news network stationed in the Middle East.

“Loon is working his way out of my system,” Loon stated, while sporting traditional Islam garb. “[I’m] happy to be accepting Islam, and finding the peace of mind I was always searching for in the music business…Thanks to Islam I was able to complete my search and now I’m very much at peace. Bad Boy days are over, I’m now what you call a good boy.”

Loon was a staple of the late 90s, early millennium Bad Boy roster. The Harlemite was most prominently featured on the hit singles “I Need a Girl, Part 1 & 2.” When asked if he will continue to rap, Loon referenced the importance of being spiritually grounded before making that decision, as the media will be cognizant of any contradictory actions. I'm glad someone finally realizes that.

“Right now I’m focusing on studying Islam and becoming more knowledgeable of the deen (Islamic way of life),” Loon explained. “Being in the position of influence, I have to be able to protect myself. The media sometimes tries to use these transitions that artists make as an opportunity to make a mockery of Islam, or whatever faith a person might choose…But Allah knows best, maybe I will return to rap.”

Acknowledging that mainstream Hip-Hop currently has a very low spiritual component, Loon asserts that it is a challenge to all artists who follow religious tenets.

“That’s something that all of us artists that have accepted Islam struggle with, because it’s a very fine line,” Loon said. “With me I really love the music, but it’s the lifestyle that’s really the bad influence. The music can be geared towards things that influence people to do positive things. But the actual part that detours people from practicing their faith or concentrating on positive things is the lifestyle.”

Last year, T-Pain, Akon, Busta Rhymes and others raised the ire of the Muslim world with their remix of “Arab Money,” which featured Qur’anic scripture over music. This action is considered blasphemy in Islamic culture, and forced the artists to remove the remix from rotation. As a potential Islamic artist, Loon is aware of this issue and is considering the safer avenue of spoken word.

“The mass audience that we reach as artists are particularly in the club. So to have people in the club actually reciting ayahs (verses) or things that pertain to Islam would kind of give the wrong impression,” Loon detailed. “Spoken word is something I’ve been focusing on. I do have the lyrical ability to establish a lot of things that make Islam so beautiful. But it’s very hard to walk that fine line when you have music in the background that plays a role as dance rhythm or something that may mislead a person from the message we’re trying to give.”

I'm starting to wonder what's really going on over there at Bad Boy. Loon is the second Harlem rapper, following former friend Mase, to leave Hip-Hop due to spiritual enlightenment. Loon’s last LP was a 2007 joint project with fellow Bad Boy alum G-Dep, entitled Bad Boy.

Kelly Rowland Attributes Tina Knowles For Helping Her Love Herself

Singer Kelly Rowland spoke with Britain's HEAT magazine recently, and during her interview, she revealed that she learned to love herself with help from none other than Tina Knowles.

Kelly also told HEAT that she struggled with issues of self acceptance and low self-esteem. The former DC (Destinys Child) singer, now solo artist, says her troubles began as a child when she found herself wishing for a lighter complexion as the only African American girl in her class.

"There's so much peer pressure, growing up I had an identity crisis - I went to a school that was predominantly white and I was the only black girl," Rowland said. "I remember thinking, 'I don't want to be as dark as I am, I want to be a little fairer. I didn't want to be me."

Rowland says that it was Tina Knowles, who is Beyonce's mother and also was Kelly's guardian for many years, who helped her work out her issues. She says that Tina helped her to realize her beauty and uncover her hidden confidence.

"She sat me in front of the mirror and said, 'Girl, look at how pretty you are.' She made me feel comfortable in my own skin."

Although she got her start from Knowles, Rowland says she really didn't realize her full potential until adulthood.

"When I got older, I embraced who I am as a woman. I look in the mirror and I'm like, 'I like Kelly. Kelly's not so bad.' I think that it's important to instill that in our girls, to know that they posses something special and that everybody's not supposed to be the same."

The Dangers of Plastic Surgery!

I know that it may be tough to look at this picture of Korean woman, Hang Mioku, who is now 48 years old. Hang had her first plastic surgery at the age of 28 and was hooked from then on. I'm not even going to beat around the bush with this. We all can surmise that the pictures of this lady are not flattering at all, but this is what happens when you don't love yourself and what God has created in you.

Hang moved to Japan after her first surgery so that she could receive further operations on her face and other parts of her body. After operation after operation, her face was eventually left enlarged and disfigured, but she would still look at herself in the mirror and think she was not beautiful enough but still beautiful. Eventually the surgeons she visited refused to carry out any more work on her and one suggested that her obsession could be a sign of a psychological disorder.

When she returned home to Korea the surgery meant Hang’s features had changed so much that her own parents didn’t recognize her. After realizing that the girl with the grossly swollen face was indeed their daughter her horrified parents took her to a doctor. Once again the possibility that Hang had a mental disorder was raised and she started treatment. However, this treatment was too expensive for her to keep up and she soon fell back into old ways. If she hadn't spent all that unnecessary money on these ridiculous surgeries, she probably could have been treated the way she needed to be by physicians. But amazingly, she found a doctor who was willing to give her silicone injects and, what’s more, he then gave her a syringe and silicone of her own so she could self-inject. When her supply of silicone ran out Hang resorted to injecting cooking oil into her face. *BLANK STARE* Her face became so grotesquely large that she was called “standing fan” by children in her neighbourhood - due to her large face and small body.

As Hang’s notoriety spread she was featured on Korean TV. Viewers seeing the report took mercy on her and sent in enough donations to enable her to have surgery to reduce the size of her face. During the first procedure surgeons removed 60g of foreign substance from Hang’s face and 200g from her neck. After several other sessions her face was left greatly reduced but still scarred and disfigured. And it would seem that even Hang can now see the damage she has done; she now says that she would simply like her original face back.

Below is a picture of what Hang look like before the surgeries. Terrible shame she didn't love herself enough to be satisfied with her original face. Ladies, God made you you for a reason. Love the skin you're in! If you don't love you, how do you expect others too?