LLOYD BANKS – “BOY WONDER”
interview by: Corey C* Jackson
pics by: Christopher Bell

His lyrical prowess is undeniable. His punch lines are as forthcoming as they are aggressive and witty; drawing comparison to a confident Ali during any given prize fight. Lastly, his tenacity for the microphone is as pellucid as the street sagas his rhymes depict. Listen to any Lloyd Banks mixtape and I guarantee you’ll understand why the Southside Jamaica Queens native was crowned the “Boy Wonder” during his ascension in becoming a champion of the mixtape circuit. With a multi-platinum solo debut from the Hunger For More; one would think Lloyd Banks’ appetite for success had been quenched. The truth is anything but. Still hungry after leaving Interscope Records; Banks set out on a somewhat nostalgic path to remind his fans and the doubters of why he is still the people’s choice. He blessed ears with over 300 shows and five mixtapes to marinate on until the release of The Hunger For More 2 on November 22, 2010. Now with singles like “Start it up” and “Beamer, Benz, or Bentley” consuming the airwaves and ITunes sales; G-unit’s youngest member is out again to prove that he’s hungrier than ever to establish his name once again as one of rap’s elites. I had the opportunity to interview Banks’ about his upcoming album, his regional taste for women, and how with a dedicated vision he plans to devour the competition.

C*: This is Corey Jackson with entertainmentreporters.com here with Lloyd Banks to talk about his new album: The Hunger For More 2. I’m definitely a fan. I’ve got the first album right here. I remember this album distinctly because I was in college when it came out and somebody got me for my album man!

Banks: Hahaha.

C*: We had a little party in the dorm room and somebody stole my CD so I had to re-cop it! So in honor of the first album I wanted to go through it and ask you some questions based off of some of the tracks.

Banks: Ok.

C*: Let’s talk about the first song from the last album. “Ain’t no click.” What’s up with G-unit now? What’s going on? Is there a new album coming out in the future?

Banks: We’re always working. At the moment we probably got about 14-15 songs put to the side. So it’s whenever we want to push the button. You know collectively; me, Tony Yayo, and 50 cent; we could realistically make an album in 7 days. We’ve recorded several mixtapes within a matter of a weekend.

C*: Ok. The second track Playboy. I saw your response from your interview on Chelsea Lately! What is better to you? Which do you prefer? Atlanta women or New York women?

Banks: That’s a tough one. That’s a very tough one. You know, New York, for different reasons. New York is like, so many different varieties. You can find every race right within the block you know? For black women, Atlanta is amazing. It’s amazing. It’s one of the places where you might find yourself in a restaurant and be outnumbered. All the time.

C*: “Yeah, oh no doubt, I think it’s like four to one down here actually…”

Banks: Yeah fo sho. So you can come in a restaurant and it’ll be tables with five or six women there all eating, ya know per table, like 5 or 6, parties of 6. Ya know? That’s pretty intimidating to a dude who ain’t got everything up to par. And I do, and I still be like damn! How do I sit at this table? But yeah, I definitely appreciate Atlanta.

C*: Next track, “Warrior”. You came from the Southside of Queens; not the easiest place. I mean, look where you are today. Tons of kids look up to you. Obviously you overcame insurmountable odds. What experiences coming up from Queens made Lloyd Banks who he is today?

Banks: So much, not just even mine in particular, but you know I was always a good sponge. I paid attention to my surroundings and what was going on. Even through the music, ya know, the stories aint about me; it’s about people that influenced me. Sometimes when I get asked that question like “What are my influences?”, a lot of them are negative. Because the negative scares me a little more. The fact that you could go groundhog day and then not have anything. People that are doing good ya know, from the outside in, you always think they’re going to be good. So I never really focused on them. I focused on what it can be, and that’s not where I wanna be at. I’ve been through a lot, you know? I’ve lost a lot of people to the street, I’ve been shot myself, you know, but to be able to bounce back here, it’s like saying “Oh, it speaks for itself.” What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

C*: “On fire” from the first album was a smashing single. After Beg for Mercy you came off of that album and “On fire” lit the streets up! Eminem co-produced it. I know y’all got a banger I’m looking forward to hearing on the new one that’s crazy. I know Em’s been biggin’ you up! How much in the production process has Em been involved in this album? If any?

Banks: This album is a little different. I usually have a chance to play him my record. I’d fly to Detroit and play him the album and stuff, but he had the four shows. We had two in Detroit with Jay-Z, two in New York, and then he had award shows, and working on The Detox. Fortunate enough, I was able to get the record in time for the bonus cut. We couldn’t get it for the hard copy.

C*: “Yeah I saw you had four bonus tracks on there too…”

Banks: Yeah so there’s four bonus cuts for the store, and then if you purchase on I-tunes there’s two separate ones. So when it’s all said and done, you’ll have twenty official records and twelve blue Friday Joints too. And the Eminem record is beyond what people are expecting.

C*: “Get High.” I’m on Twitter the other day and I saw the picture you tweeted. I’m thinking this aint nothing but some dude’s afro and then my boy’s like, naw C* look closer! And I’m like, yo! That’s the loveliest, loveliest thing! Let me kick it with you! But beyond that you really can go higher, ya know? I believe that as rappers; the common perception of a rapper is “Oh, all he can do is spit.” Not only can you spit, but you’re talented with words from the foundation. So do you see yourself…. maybe ten years from now in the corporate role, maybe with the suit on, you managing some groups, you know what I’m saying, you with your own label? Do you see that in the future for you?

Banks: Most definitely. You know coaches last longer than players. There’s no more artist development. It’s like now you get signed, they throw you on the wall, if you stick you stick, if you drop, then they drop you. Science is that easy. Yeah man, I think that in order to be the ultimate artist, I think you have to create your own music. And from this part, all I’ve been doing is putting the words to it. When I can deliver the sound, with the words, along with the structure; then I think I’ll be unstoppable. And then after that I can give that same game to somebody else. You’re only as good as last time you were seen, and I think a lot of artists take for granted the power of first impression. Ya know, and so they get an ear to get out there. Ya know, on these avenues like world star and all these places. But on these media sites you could be in a bubble, and then the next bubble next to you could be a monkey. And then on the one next to that you got backyard fights. You understand what I’m sayin? So just because you’re on these avenues don’t mean that you’re connecting. So I would encourage other artists to not rush into a business that is 95% business.

C*: Yeah, that’s another question I had for you. The single “Beamer, Benz, or Bentley”…600,000 and going. You did your own thing! You worked magic with it and went independent. Do you ever feel like the status from your first album is overshadowing you to just up the ante? Rotten Apple was still banging, but it didn’t do nearly as good as The Hunger For More pt. 1. When you’re recording do you think about those things?

Banks: To a certain extent, because you always want to top yourself. I think it’s a good thing when you are your competition. You know when my second album came out, nobody was comparing it to any other album, they was like, can it do what the first one did or what have you. And I think that was a difficult time. There was some sort of resistance at that time; for whatever reason I don’t know. I think that when you win; when you win in abundance, in a very short amount of time; it rubs people some way sometimes. It’s gets mis took for ya know, arrogance and things like that because you’re just winning, winning, winning, winning. And I think sometimes the business savvy overshadows the talent. So people start looking at it like “It’s somebody who they don’t have to support because you’re well off.” Ya know what I mean? And that was definitely not the case with me. So that was the reason for putting out five mixtapes. I didn’t wanna just come back with beamer benz. I knew I had a hit when I wrote beamer benz. I knew what it was gonna do, but I didn’t wanna just have THAT. Then people going “Okay where was he before this?” I’d be easier for them to count me out. So all the true fans that followed me for the last year know that it wasn’t a fluke. They know that they got five bulks of material in mixtapes that led into this. You know what I mean, and it’s important now man. You know It’s sad that you gotta ……continuously……ya know……

C*: “Always be in the light…..”

Banks: Yeah, but it’s cool though. At this point man, like I said man, it’s gonna feel good. It’s bittersweet. Sweet for me. Bitter for the doubters.

C*: Okay. I was listening to your latest Whoo Kid interview the other day. I heard you were in the studio with Fabulous and y’all were working on a track. Can you explain the vibe in the studio? I know you did Christian Dior Denim Flow and then you have “Start it up” out now which is crazy. Was that all done in the same night?

Banks: Pretty much. I was in the studio with Fab, and Kanye was over in his studio, and he was recording …he had already did his, I think the day before or whatever. I got the verse from Fab and then I went over to Kanye’s studio and I played him what I had. And he was like “Let me play you what I got.” He had the joint with Ryan (Leslie) on the chorus as well as Swizz. And Kanye’s verse was 32 bars, so I was like DAMN! I knew what he did you know what I mean! But it was cool man, I appreciated it….That same night we did Christian Dior Denim Flow. I was in there, Cudi was in there on the guitar, Ryan was playing the keys, John Legend was in there, Pusha was somewhere else and sent his verse in. So it was dope man, like one big band.

C*: My favorite track from the last album is “To the end.” You paint a story so vividly. It reminds me of Biggie, actually. Just the way it feels like Inception. I can maneuver my way through the track and see. I don’t know who’s idea; if it was your idea or a producer’s idea to incorporate the reverse of the sounds into the track, but just try to expand on that a little bit.

Banks: That was a funny story man. When I got the beat to “To the End” it was just a dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah dah dah dah dah…..there was nothing else there; like maybe a slight little kick; enough for me to paint the picture. I wrote the record, I sent it to EM, he sent it back to me, and it sounds like this. So if I played you the skeleton you wouldn’t even think it was the same record. He took, from what I said, cuz I’m saying “nobody knew if they would die before they woke. Prolly started off a beautiful day with weed smoke…” So he already knew in my mind that I was thinking like what if it never happened. You know, like it didn’t have to happen. You know so, with that being said he sent it back, put this spin on it, had the door going, it just felt like Stir of Echoes, or like Sixth Sense; like a movie brought to life man. It was dope man. That one’s thing I know I that I can expect from Em. That it’s never gonna be what it sounds like on the tube track. It’s gonna come back a movie. Strings, dramatic….Em also mixes word for word. Like, a lot of people mix line for line, he mixes word for word. The clarity is amazing.

C*: “Southside Story.” Are there any up and coming rappers from your neighborhood that we can put on blast now to let people know they’re on their way?

Banks: “As far as coming out of Queens?”

C* “Yeah”

Banks: Wow. If it is, it’s probably gonna end up being out my family. My cousin John Depth is outta Queens. He raps too. My brother Louis V; he raps also. They’re coming into themselves. I don’t want to speak to soon, but there’s something in the water in Southside. You know you look at me, Yayo, 50, Nicki Minaj. There’s something in the water in Southside. I mean, we can expect some good things coming out of there. The one thing that I can say is good for South Jamaica…. the kids coming up now; they still got respect for the artists like me that came up on the mixtape market. It’s still there. Like the people I used to get my instrumentals from are still there. The same people there. So the history is there. When they walk in the shop, they see me there, they see whoever stopped through, you know what I mean, people come from different boroughs to these places man. So it still means something to the hood. And rest in peace Stack Bundles, man. When I think about it, it frustrates me because I knew he was going to be something. You know we was rappin; we went to high school together. So we came in that same vein man and it was just messed up that he got stopped short. Yeah, but I’m pretty sure it’s somebody out there, that’s in that vein in how we was, that’s gon come up with the same witty, aggressive kind of content and I can’t wait.

C*: The track “Die One Day”. If you could bring back any family member, who would it be and what do you think they would have to say about how you defied the odds and made it through?

Banks: Wow, that’s too hard of a question. You know what it is, like, everybody has losses. I just had a lot of losses. I lost my best friend, my pops, my grandmother…all in a domino effect. I mean, my father probably, because me and my grandfather were at peace. You know what I mean, like, she was always big momma, she was there and she died from cancer. I was there to the point where it was just like, uncomfortable for me to even see her to that point. My pops; I’d probably bring that back because he passed under circumstances that I couldn’t make right. He was in prison since I was about 5 years old. So throughout that time of me growing into a teenager I became a man on my own. So it was like, when he came back into my life; we clashed a lot because he wanted me to be younger still and I was already in the street. And then when your life is moving…my life moving 12 hours a day…cuz I’m sleeping the rest of the time. You know; a roller coaster for me literally. So it hit me a little more when he passed because he didn’t get shot. He got found. You know what I mean? My pops was found. And then I heard about it about it 4 or 5 days later. So I never really could settle that in my stomach. And then I never had the relationship the way it was supposed to be so I was really really frustrated about that. All those things fuel me too because I know that they’re watching so I keep all that in mind when I’m recording.

C*: And my last question…..Can I get you’re signature on my CD?
Banks: Oh fo sho.

C*

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ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: “STRONG” & Always Relevant!!!
story by: C*
images by: Christopher Bell

What band wouldn’t want to mirror the success of Arrested Development? The group has sold millions of records worldwide, been the recipient of an NAACP image award, and has won two Grammy awards. Arrested Development is an eclectic collection of 8 different walks of life unified to form a movement through music that combats social inequalities by transcending race, gender, and ethnocentricity. As soon as I entered Vagabond Records and Tapes, I took in the warm visual landscape. The walls are vibrantly painted with murals, and covered with countless accolades from the group’s journey all over the world. Yet nothing captured my senses as much as the food being prepared in the neighboring dining room.

“This is how we get down before every session. Friends and family come over and we have a great time.” Speech informed me . We wanted to give you a well balanced meal . We feel like that’s what’s been missing in hip hop.”

After indulging in food for thought one thing became obviously clear to me. This is more than a place where the group produces records and tapes. This is a home where a family gathers to fellowship, and from that fellowship comes incredible music.

“When we first started off, we saw the situation in the black community. It was horrid… It still is in too many ways. The vision that we have as a group, is the vision that, we as a people, as black people, can rise up to be incredible people that we were intended to be, from the very beginnings of our creation.” Speech as well as the rest of Arrested Development are committed to restoring communities with a passion.

The group is composed of eight members. Speech, Montsho Eshe, Tasha Larae, JJ, One Love, Za’, Rasa Don, and Baba Oje. Baba Oje, at age 78, is the group’s spiritual elder and the oldest man in hip hop! That’s incredible! Their latest release, STRONG, is a collective effort to show that when their eight minds unify there is no opposition that can break their bond.

“The title of our album is STRONG. And there’s a purpose for that. This album is strong. If you listen to it, if you have a chance; we ask that you check it out. This album is a heartbeat of passion; it’s a heartbeat of trying to bring people back to some topics of discussion that’s been left out of the media for far too long. The record is strong, we feel like it’s our best musical composition that we’ve done since our first album.”

Fresh off of rocking CNN, the band feels the momentum beginning to pick up again after previously disbanding in 1995. During their absence, each individual member separated to fulfill their own dreams, but in the end; as a group they feel there is still a void in the music industry that only Arrested Development can fill.

Speech continued to elaborate. “What we believe is going to happen is that momentum is going to pick up. We wanted to take things further and let the media know that we’re not stopping here. We’re moving forward now. So we want people to get down with us. This is not a shot in the dark for us. We’ve been touring and building a story for a long time. The Americans are just getting heed to this story, but we’ve been building a story that’s legitimate. We’ve been building festivals throughout the world. We’ve been doing 20,000 seaters since 1990.”

With a trail of success and a coherent vision; it’s no wonder Arrested Development possess the ability to cross over cultures and continents worldwide. Whatever they’re fortified with, the world could use more of it; and they continue to do just that. One mind at a time. The group left a lasting impression on me, and I was privileged to interview them with some brief questions.

One of my favorite Arrested Development tracks is “People Everyday”. I feel like the song embodies the totality of the human experience. Can you explain the synergy in the studio when you were recording that record?

Speech: “It was incredible because if you bought our first album we have the People Everyday that we initially did, and then the label released Tennessee as our first single, and it started to blow up. Then the label was like “well what do we do next?” We figured let’s do Mr. Wendel; because we felt like that had pop hit potential . Back in them days there was such thing as black radio, and nowadays there is no such thing. So you know, Black radio wasn’t on to us too much, and college radio was vibing on Tennessee. So we were thinking Mr. Wendel would do well on the pop side, but what can really appeal to the black audience ya know? We saw that the version on the album didn’t continue with the same power as Tennessee did which was already doing really well and climbing the charts. So I went into the studio and did a remix. I called the whole group in and laid down this new music to it. The energy was incredible. For the first time in our career we felt like we might have something here because Tennessee was starting to get a vibe; MTV and so on and so forth were playing it. We really felt like the remix is what we wanted to focus on. We knew we wanted to do People Everyday as a single, but I felt like I had to add something to it to make something different about it, and that’s the version that everybody knows. In the studio every body felt like “ If we really lay this down right we can develop a career here.”

It’s crazy how a group can pop in another country before you pop in your own country and your own people to support you. What is the most noticeable difference between the American and Foreign audience?

Tasha Larae: Loyalty. They like whatever came out ten years ago, whatever was hot for them, that they loved, they like it, and then ten years later they still like that same music, but also in that time other music has been released there’s more stuff that they like. So they don’t feel like they can only like one style, they like it all if it speaks to them, however it does, they hold on to that. So we can go over seas and tour and people love the music. They’ll know the older stuff but they’ll know the newer stuff too, and then the things that have been released in between. They gravitate towards that stuff because each of those songs, or coming to the shows, and experiences that they’ve had in doing so, it spoke to them. They stick with that and they don’t forget about that.

For the US ,it seems like now albums are being released every six months from the same artist. It’s like you have to hurry up, pop it out, and then it only has so long of a life to live. After that little window of time ,you’re done, that’s it, okay moving on to the next. So you’re conditioning people to not stay loyal to anything, it’s just go for the next thing that’s the best, the flashiest, or the hottest. The problem with that is that that type of mentality also starts to go into other areas in those people’s lives. So you see broken relationships that can’t hold on to long term relationships with people.

Eshe: I think as a people they are programmed differently than here in the states because over there you can listen to the radio and you’ll hear Sly & Family Stone, then you’ll hear Snoop Dogg, then you’ll hear something else; and it’s all on one radio show. They’ll play whatever. It’s just different.

What people in the U.S. don’t understand is that we truly set the trends for the world. It’s a blessing that we get to travel around the world so that our minds are a lot more open than the average person that’s probably never been outside the states. I encourage people to travel if they can because you’ll see someone in Europe that’s just like you. They may have the same problems and the same issues; just a different dialect.

Speech: I think there used to be a time where the commodities that we sold in this country were quality and the journey of an artist was apart of the commodity. So in other words, Stevie Wonder, you took a journey with The Temptations , and whoever else and I think unfortunately, with physical and products and musical products in the United States , we’ve lost any real commodities other than the trend, now the trend is the commodity. And so now we’re like masters of what’s new; what’s fresh. Wherever it’s from, it may not be made in America now but we bring in the new thing from Japan, the new thing from China, the new thing from India; whatever….We’ve become masters of commodities in the trend world. I think that has unfortunately allowed for things that Tasha and Eshe said. Where people are not focused hard enough on the journey with any artist as much anymore.

From a sales standpoint it doesn’t seem like people are tired of it because we’ve gotten married to the trend. The trend itself is what we’re now devoted to. What that doesn’t do though; is it never allows us to develop the long term relationship; the long term longevity or devotion to an artist.

The name Arrested Development is a contrast of words that is somewhat oxymoronic. When I think of arrested; I don’t think of y’alls music. I think of one being in confinement, no hope, bleak situations….Then you have the word development on the other side of that which can mean growth, prosperity, and inner maturation. How did Arrested Development come to embody such a diverse group?

Speech: When we first started off we had another name like “The cycles of a lyrical rebellion” which was too long (laughter fills the room). I’m from Milwaukee originally. Milwaukee is a lot different than Atlanta. When I came to Atlanta, it was like a utopia in a sense. Milwaukee is way more polarized. It is white and black there, there’s not a lot more in between. The blacks are generally poorer and the whites are generally richer. That’s sort of the reality of where I was at the time the group started. I saw the situation of black people join a state of Arrested Development. We used it as a name to focus on what we were trying to eradicate.
{C*}

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GET IT OUT OF THE CLOSET FASHION SHOW & FUNDRAISER

I like the phrase “Party with a Purpose”! That’s exactly what happened at the Biltmore Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia on Sunday, October 3, 2010 with “Get It Out Of the Closet”. Philanthropy time for EntertainmentReporters.com and everybody in attendance! Life can be entertaining, but life is no game and people really need to help one another to make our world a better place.

Check out the video of the Fundraiser below:

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“>DOC SHAW: PAIR OF KINGS…

Doc Shaw came out to Ludacris’ restaurant Straits in his hometown Atlanta, GA to greet the media and to introduce his new show: Pair of Kings.

THE CONFIDANT – Red Carpet Premiere with Kenya Moore, David Banner & Boris Kodjoe

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BONES BRIGANTE: ANIMAL KLIK – WORLD DOMINATION

Now, Bones Brigante is ready for the mainstream… And as we see, he has the skills to pay the bills!!!

STATEENA IS WINNING AFTER APPEARING ON AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
“Well basically, they are not pictures of me. They are pics of Naomi Campbell. It’s funny that people are always quick to go on the negative side, but never talk about the good things that I do. The first photos were me. But the last ones weren’t. But her body is amazing (laughs)!”
On photo scandal with MediaTakeOut

Monique “STATEENA” Calhoun is now a professional model from Chicago, IL and loving it! She made her debut as a contestant on America’s Next Top Model – Cycle 7. No, she didn’t win; technically. But… She is definitely winning right now! I had the chance to talk with the Supermodel to talk about her career, the runway, and her non-profit organization.

*How does it feel to have done so many great things after getting off a show like ANTM?

Stateena:  It feels great! It feels good that there’s people that; besides all the negativity portrayed, that they actually see talent. And, they see something there that can actually win and make it.

*Tell me, how does the adrenaline feel when you’re actually on the runway in a show?

Stateena:  You know, it’s hard to say exactly. Because for me, when I first get ready to go out on the runway I’m pretty nervouse & scared. Your mind is like: I don’t want to fall; how am I gonna look? There’s just so many things going through your head. But once I get on the stage, it’s like my alter ego takes over and I have no idea what’s happening. I don’t hear anything! I don’t see anything! I’m in my zone. I have no idea what happened on stage until I review the tape. But it’s an amazing feeling.

*What’s the difference between performing for a live audience, then having to do it behind the camera?

Stateena:  Wow. I guess there’s not much of a difference, you still get nervous. I think that being in front of an audience is a bit more shakey, becuause there’s a lot more people versus a camera; it’s just a crew. There’s no do-overs live; so if that’s it; that’s it!

*So let’s get to what things are you doing now?

Stateena:  As of right now, I just did a commercial for Vegas. It’s gonna be a huge national commercial and the whole Vegas Tourism for the city. It should be out within the next month or two. I have been working with Balenciaga. They are one of my top clients. I will be working with them throughout the month of June. I worked with Alberta Feretti, Giorgio Armani and just a lot of different designers. I’m doing a lot of runway. I’m also getting myself more into the commercial side and acting.

*Tell me a bit about your nonprofit organization.

Stateena:  Yes, it’s about disadvantaged children & battered women. The reason why I work with them is because I grew up with my Mother being battered, and I was disadvantaged from a lot of things because of that. I want to show people that, even if you did have that around you, you could still make it out. I really want to give back as much as possible.

*I’m gonna do a 360 to the beginning of your life, to when you realized that you wanted or knew that you were a model. What kind of things were you thinking?

Stateena:  Well, I knew because everyone else knew I was a model. I was more persuaded by everyone constantly telling me that I looked like a model, or asking me if I was a model. So, it kind of just happened; kind of just fell in my lap. I started doing hair modeling and it came my way. I just happen to have this talent. And I love to perform, so it’s a really natural thing for me.

*Isn’t it funny that the person who actually has the talent is always the last to know they have it?

Stateena:  (Laughs) You know, you’re right! That is exactly how it was.

*After coming off the show, did Tyra Banks help you get signed or did you have to hustle to get your own contracts?

Stateena:  No, you have to go out and find your own. It’s only so much a person can give you, because if they give you too much what will you learn and/or understand on your own?!  You have to have that drive to fight against the grain to make it happen…

“Continue to follow me and look out for the next projects that I’m working on. Right now, I’m working on a simple brochure book for young women on day-to-day living with respect.”

Follow Stateena on Twitter: @Stateena

Hit her up on facebook: StateenaChevey

Check out her website: www.Stateena.com

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FALSE PROFITS STAGE PLAY STARRING ED HARTWELL DEBUTS IN ATLANTA – MAY 8, 2010 AT RIALTO CENTER THEATER

Jer 23:14 – I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Former NFL player and Real Housewives of Atlanta’s, Ed Hartwell starred as the no-good Pastor Chris Gettins in the debut of Kevin & Shante Ragin’s – False Profits (spelled intentionally to signify greed): God Don’t Like Ugly! The play showed the ugly side of underhanded leaders of the church. Pastors who lead by taking from the poor to feed themselves & their families with lavish material things. False Profits was musical, it was funny, it was dramatic; and most importantly, it had a message.