Tag Archives: Erica Campbell

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The Game’s Wendy Raquel Robinson & Being Mary Jane’s Gary Dourdan Star in New Inspirational Movie!!!

Hello World, mysteriousways_KA_loc_rev

I know we are not feeling Sheldon aka Gary Dourdan after the “Being Mary Jane” finale a week ago today, but let’s remember that he was just acting, right 🙂 And no matter what she does, Tasha Mack from “The Game” aka Wendy Raquel Robinson will always be our girl! Anywho, Wendy Racquel Robinson and Gary Dourdan have come together to star in a new inspiration film “Mysterious Ways.”

Below is the description of the film…

The day a hit and run driver took the life of her little boy, Marilyn (Wendy Raquel Robinson) died inside. Not even the passing of time, the love of a good man or a job as choir director at her church could bring her peace. But a chance encounter with a mysterious homeless man, who calls himself Mozart (Gary Dourdan), will change Marilyn’s world and let her see that there are no accidents, and true healing starts with forgiveness. Directed by Dan Garcia, Mysterious Ways also stars Telma Hopkins and Mary Mary’s Erica Atkins Campbell.

Below is the trailer for the film….

MYSTERIOUS WAYS is currently available on www.urbanmoviechannel.com  &

 available for purchase on DVD TODAY!!!

Any thoughts?

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Erica Gets a Backbone : Mary Mary Season 4, Episode 7 Recap…

 

marymaryHello World,

As many Christians know, 7 is the number of completion so as it is the 7th episode of Season 4 of Mary Mary reality’s show, one would expect something to be completed in this week’s episode…Was something completed? Of course, you have to read on to find out 🙂

white dressSo this week’s episode starts in the studio, Tina and her husband Teddy along with Warryn, producer for Mary Mary and Erica Campbell as well as Erica’s husband (for those new to the show), are discussing Tina making a solo album…Aside: I noticed that Tina was wearing a red dress that showed a lot of cleavage…Remember when Erica Campbell wore that white form-fitting dress in a promo shoot for her solo album and was giving major body although she was fully covered? The thing is that Mary Mary have been outside of the gospel music box since jump, and I think that attitude comes out in everything they do from their clothing choices to their reality show…So my question is: Do you think that Christian women should feel comfortable showing their cleavage OR showing off their curves even if they are fully clothed? Okay, so back to the recap…

Studio Scheming…

So while Tina is talking about potentially making music of her own, Warryn is getting excited because he secretly hopes that if Tina starts working on her own music, she won’t focus on Mary Mary… Warryn says, “I need Tina to focus on her solo career and stop worrying about Mary Mary because that will help all of us.” In other words, Erica can continue to work on promoting her solo brand without having to consider Mary Mary…But just when he thinks  his secret plan is working, he realizes he is foiled again when he asks her if she has definite plans for an album and she can’t answer the question….

Speaking of Breasts… pink ribbon

It’s that time of the year that women of a certain age dread…It’s time for Erica to have a mammogram and she is scared….”Warryn beat cancer five years ago, and my father died of cancer,” Erica says to her friend, Yvette, who comes to the doctor with her….Apparently, Yvette has battled cancer three or four times…I so understand that fear…Having lost two of my sorority sisters because of breast cancer, I know, if I don’t know anything else, that breast cancer is no joke…But I’m proud of Erica for not letting her fear immobilize her and that she reached out to her friend to support her in taking of herself…

The “No Love” Boat…

Erica

Erica has no time to worry about the results of her mammogram because Mary Mary has a gig on a Costa Rican cruise…Tina booked the Marys to perform on the cruise and sees the cruise as a way for them to have a vacation with their hubbies AND perform…Warryn & Erica don’t see it the same way…”A cruise ship is where acts go to die,” Warryn says…

Tina

Tina is tranquil for a hot second before she realizes that her room is right by the elevator which could make her an easy target for fans…But before she gets in somebody’s face about it and threatens to leave the boat as the “Old Tina” would do, she simply asks to be moved to a different room without a lot of drama…A round of applause for her self-control…

Erica

Warryn & Erica are still grumbling about even being on the boat in the first place as they discuss the situation in their room…Warryn is pressuring Erica to finally stand up to her sister and let her know that she wants to focus on her solo career not Mary Mary…”If this was Tina, she would do whatever suited her,” he says…

Tina

A few minutes later, at least in TV time, we find out that Tina & Warryn have gotten a new room…Hallelujah, Tina didn’t have to tear the club up to get a new room…While in their new more private room, Teddy and Tina have a FaceTime conversation with their daughter Laiah, who is dressed in a cheerleading outfit and ready to cheer! Tina yells, “Put somethin’ on it!!! Some hot sauce!!!” See that’s why Tina has that red hair…She know she’s fiery like some hot sauce…I had another philosophical question while watching tonight’s episode….I wonder what it’s like to have parents that travel all of the time? My parents were home all of the time…Shoot, I wished they traveled back then so I could have some time away from them…So anyway, I have no idea what it would be like to be a kid and be away from your parents on a somewhat regular basis…

Erica

While Erica is away from her husband, she gets a call from her doctor’s office…I really hate when the doctor’s office calls…Don’t you? The cliche’ “no news is good news” must have been said originally by someone who was glad the doctor’s office hadn’t called…And unfortunately, Erica is told some bad news…The test results are inconclusive, and Erica is told to come back to the doctor’s office as soon as she returns from her cruise….So if that was me, I would have to have the captain to turn the ship back around because there is no vacation at that point…Erica says, “This is not the news that I need to hear as I sail away.” Erica goes back to her room and tells Warryn about the call from the doctor’s office. He says to the camera, “I was personally diagnosed with cancer, and I survived so I understand her stress.” Well, Praise God that he is a survivor!!!

 B-Ball Breakdown

Warryn & Teddy Campbell (it still trips me out they have the same last name although they aren’t brothers and married sisters!) play some basketball on the ship…While they are playing the game, Warryn tries to convince Teddy to encourage his wife to launch her solo career…Teddy seems to agree with his brother-in-law…Warryn hopes his conversation was “another nail in the coffin of Mary Mary.” So I’m thinking that the death imagery was too deep…

The Campbells Times Two

The four of them go to dinner on the boat. Warryn has encouraged his wife to tell Tina that she is going to focus on her career instead of Mary Mary and basically get everything out in the open…And now that Teddy is in on his plan, it should be smooth sailing at this point…But nobody puts Tina in a corner and she goes off like you thought she would…While the sisters are arguing, Warryn looks to Teddy to support them…But Teddy says nothing. “I’ve been praying for wisdom, and I know not to get in the middle of two sisters,” Teddy says to the camera…And after what Teddy did, he basically can’t cross Tina for the rest of their marriage…Erica calls Tina “a major butt hole.” Finally, Tina says to Teddy, “C’mon baby” and they leave without Teddy saying a word…Again, he would need not to ever disagree with her ever again…

Rain Forest Excursion

The four get off the boat in Costa Rica and tour a rain forest…So I’ve been to Costa Rica…I generally don’t like rain, but the rain has made Costa Rica one of the most lush countries I have ever visited…I mean the green is in technicolor over there…I also zip lined in a Costa Rican rain forest…It was exhilarating, but this recap is not of my trip…(I’m planning a summer vacation so tropical locales are on the brain.) While the couples are on the tour, Erica pledges to stand up to her sister once and for all and tell her that Mary Mary is over. “I’ve got to stop Mary Mary no matter who it hurts.” Yeah, yeah, Erica, I will believe it when I see it…From what I can see, erebody is scared of Tina….

Stir-Fried Crap

Those are the words that Warryn uses to describes how he feels after they return from the rain forest…In other words, Warryn is sick…He coughs and wheezes and looks like he is about to topple over while Erica takes him to the infirmary…For a second, she “breaks character” and says, “Not right now. Get that camera out of here.”

The Performance

After all of that drama, the time has finally come for Mary Mary to perform…Tina is the first one to show up for a change and is getting ready with a sound check…After a while, Erica shows up since she was taking care of Warryn…Erica wants to rehearse “A Little More Jesus” from her solo album which gets Tina irate. “First of all this is a Mary Mary performance.” And Erica responds with, “At this point, they like Mary Mary and Erica Campbell.” And then she delivers the best line of the night: “I’m over it. Warryn is sick, my boobs are broke, Tina walked out and we still have a show.”

But the Marys manage to pull it together and perform and Warryn, even though he is sick, comes on stage to play the organ…The show is really good actually and Tina says, “What we have together, it’s not what we have apart.” Particularly, as it has taken them 14 years to build what they have together…Erica agrees but says, “I just want to take a minute for Erica.” Thank you for standing in your truth Erica and not letting your little sister be the boss of you!!! Tina says she has been “loosed” of her Mary Mary shackles pretty much whether she wanted to be loosed or not…

So at this point, they only have one more scheduled Mary Mary performance…will Erica keep her mind made up or will she continue to be double-minded and unstable in all of her ways?

I hope this 7th episode is the completion of this back-and-forth drama about Erica Campbell vs. Mary Mary but I guess we will have to see what happens next Thursday!!!

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Is Tina Testifying Too Much? : Mary Mary Season 4, Episode 5 Recap…

marymary
Hello World,

I’m back for my second recap of Mary Mary’s reality show and this episode had more drama than last week’s episode…I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but let me not get ahead of myself…

Last week’s episode ended with Erica deciding to go back to Mary Mary after Tina begged her sister to reunite the gospel duo although Erica’s husband Warryn was hot about her decision…

Meet Tina Campbell, Mary Mary’s manager?

This week’s episode starts in Norfolk, Virginia as the Marys are slated to perform at the Richmond Jazz Festival…As Erica feared in last week’s episode, Tina is already late in getting ready for their performance although Tina claims she has changed since she went through hell and back last year and survived…Despite Tina being late, though, the duo performs their hits such as “Heaven” and “Shackles (Praise You)” without any issues. “The hiatus is over, and the Marys are back,” Tina says to camera after their performance.

In the next scene, Tina is back at home in L.A. with her daughter Laiah who is showing her mother her cheer. A little stiff in her movements, Tina says, “I want you to cheer like you’re from where Mommy is from not the suburbs.” (This is would be a good scene for “Black-ish.”) While her daughter is trying to “put something on it” as Tina suggests, a booking agent calls to ask Tina (because she is supposed to be managing the group, right?) about booking a performance at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York, but she blows him off to put her family time first. Since Tina didn’t respond to him, he calls Erica who manages to converse with him and agrees to the performance although her son is drumming in the background like he is on stage and she is cooking with her daughter in the kitchen. When Warryn finds out that Erica scheduled Mary Mary to perform at B.B. King, he blows up. “You have no idea of the implications of what you just did.” Apparently, he spent $40,000 on promotion in that market so that Erica would be able to perform there and other venues in NYC and now that lucrative opportunity will be split among two instead of given to one…Erica wonders why she is the one planning dates for Mary Mary when Tina is the manager…

Sister to Sister Drama…

Mary Mary head to NYC for their performance and while they are there, they are scheduled to be interviewed by Jamie Foster Brown, publisher of Sister 2 Sister magazine which is a mashup of People magazine/TMZ for the black community. But before she arrives at their hotel room, Goo and Erica are tripping because it was reported on the magazine’s website that Teddy, Tina’s husband, may have fathered a child when he was out and about and Tina doesn’t know about the rumor…They tell Tina what was reported before Jamie arrives, but Tina doesn’t back away from Jamie when Jamie straight ups asks her about the rumor…She said it was false information and says, “That’s why I told my truth in the beginning.” Erica is cringing throughout the whole interview because Tina held back nothing…  “Tell some, save some, sister” Erica says to the camera…I agree with Tina’s approach…Say it before somebody else says it..

Showing Her Scars aka Tina’s Testimony Part Deux…


You would think that shutting down an outside child rumor would be enough marriage drama for one episode since Tina and Teddy have put the past behind them, but Tina wants to share her testimony again and tell even more than she did the first time…This time Tina gets interviewed by Shaila Scott of 107.5 WBLS in New York…Wearing a t-shirt that states ” I Show My Scars So That Others Know They Can Heal,” designed by one of my blogger boos Rhachelle Nicol, Tina shares again how her husband had a “lot of affairs over a lot of years.” She shares how sometimes she would be under the covers screaming her sister’s song “Help” and how she felt like killing somebody. But she wraps it up by saying her life is completely better a year later and that she is no longer “trapped in a prison of brokeness.”

The Shark Tank…

Also while in NYC, Tina meets with Daymond John, CEO of FUBU and one of the sharks on ABC’s show “The Shark Tank.” He is helping Tina define her brand. When he asks her to define her brand in a few words, she states, “A test that became a testimony.” Ehhh….I’m not a branding expert, but that phrase has been used by so many Christians I don’t know if that phrase is unique enough to set her apart. But Daymond loves it and pledges to help her brand take off…So what I do know?

Remember Erica Campbell, the solo artist?

Seeing that Mary Mary ‘s show at B.B. King’s was sold out, Erica is feeling some type of way about sharing the spotlight with her sister at the venue. She pledges to show out and not waste her husband’s money since she plans to perform as a solo artist at Shiloh Baptist Church in Harlem…The only problem is that she’s tired after performing as Mary Mary…In fact, she’s so tired she is unable to make the sound check before the performance…When Tina comes to Erica’s room to check on her, she criticizes her sister for saying yes to everything and suggests that she manage her sister…Erra, Tina, you were the one that got your sister to come back to Mary Mary and add more to her schedule…Erica obviously agrees with me because she says to the camera, “You want to manage Erica Campbell, but you can’t manage Mary, Mary.”

Although the show starts off well with Erica singing “A Little More Jesus,” Erica needed a lot more Jesus because she almost fell out on stage. In fact, Tina, who was just chilling in the audience in a baseball cap, t-shirt and jeans, had to get on stage while her sister was resting backstage. And wouldn’t you know it? Before Tina starts singing, she shares her testimony yet again. She says,  “It was the most challenging time of my life” and that she was mad at God. Meanwhile backstage, Erica is getting mad at her sister for sharing her testimony yet again…Will Mary Mary stay reunited? You know what to do…Watch next week and read my recap…

I Luh God and other Mary Mary news…

I don’t know if Mary Mary will stay reunited by the end of this season’s Mary Mary, but we do know that Erica Campbell is still on her solo grind…Earlier this week, Erica released her new single “I Luh God” on her reissued album “Help 2.0.”…I had to pause and gather my thoughts about this new song…Do I want to bless it or bash it? First of all, “luh” is love in Ebonics I guess…And folks are calling the song trap gospel…I thought folks listened to gospel so they could get out of the trap — not jam in the trap…

The song starts off with “I luh God, You don’t luh God, What’s Wrong Wit U?” Just typing that made my brain hurt…It don’t seem right to go from “How Great Thou Art” to “I Luh God.” The thing is Mary Mary is known for making gospel songs bump…Erebody loves “Shackles (Praise You)” and “God In Me.” They’ve got catchy beats and they are appropriately “crunk for Christ.” But this song right here confounds me almost as much as Beyoncé did when she sang “Precious Lord” at the GRAMMYs. After Erica’s initial verse, some rapper comes in sounding like a male version of  Baby D of JJ Fad (remember summa lumma dumma or whatever Baby D said…) speaking in tongues…I think he says, “I lub Him, I lub Him, I lub Him” faster and faster before he stops…

Plus, I always find myself in a conundrum when I hear gospel songs that have “wordly” beats…What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to sing along?… I guess that could work but gospel songs that are too crossover end up sounding corny to me and I can’t participate…And please don’t ask me to dance…When I hear certain beats, I involuntarily arch my back to drop it low…(Hey, no one starts off saved…) but you can’t drop it low to a song about God…Even Erica looks confused while she is singing the song… She wants to dance, but how far can she go…So she settles for doing a half Bankhead Bounce…

I’m still a Mary Mary/Erica & Tina fan, but this ain’t the song that will take me to the altar or turn me up in the club…

On the other hand, I loved her song “Help” and apparently her solo album won her the Artist of the Year Award at the Stellar Awards. And she won other awards as well. The Stellar Awards will be televised on Easter Sunday. Check your local listings and the TheStellarAwards.com for air times.

Any thoughts?