Clutch Magazine: Exploiting Whitney Houston's Death and Dealing With Personal "Sex Scandals"

The Snob has two stories up for Clutch Magazine this week -- a piece on how to handle yourself if you find you're embroiled in a "sexy" photo scandal and how uncomfortable the situation is getting with Whitney Houston's surviving family members. Did you catch the tribute to Whitney Houston at the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night? But did you also catch all the drama between Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina and her sister-in-law Pat Houston? Well, I guess that was unavoidable. Pat does have a reality show to sell.

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Why She, He and Everybody Got High

"I always compare her performance of that song with a great athlete hitting his peak — with Michael Jordan in the playoffs. It was the absolute pinnacle of what she could do, of what anyone could do — and then she had to keep on doing it. Everybody wanted to hear her sing that song, and so she sang it. It didn't matter whether she had a cold, or wasn't in good voice; she had to deliver it, and she had it arranged so she could deliver every last note. And even if the note wasn't there, the feeling was. A lot of her songs were like that. They were a lot to deliver, but she delivered them every note, every time."

-- Robyn Crawford, long-time friend of Whitney Houston, telling Esquire Magazine about what happened after the singer recorded "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard"

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In the wake of Whitney Houston's death much is being written about drug addiction and alcohol abuse and abusing subscription pills and much more because it is known that Houston struggled with addiction issues and may hypothesize that these issues may have lead to her early death. The prevailing thought that I see over and over again regarding that addiction is often related to why other people have become addicts (self-medicating for a mental illness, addiction runs in the family, taking drugs to "cope" with emotional pain, etc.) -- but the theories people focus on are the ones routinely romanticized by the public and addicts alike.

Even though there's hardly anything romantic about the ravages of addiction.

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Music Monday: Goodbye, Whitney Houston

One of the greatest vocalists in history, once with a clarity unparalleled (and it still is if you're honest, she didn't even need to do runs or melisma. She just sang the song and it sounded other-worldly), Whitney Houston, died over the weekend. After the death of Don Cornelious and Etta James dying earlier in January, Houston dying officially made this (for me) the most depressing Black History Month ever. Feel free to celebrate you favorite memories and moments featuring Houston in the comments. Mine was that as a kid, I loved her so much, I actually performed "The Greatest Love of All" at a school pageant. (Video: Houston singing "Home" from "The Wiz" in her national TV debut in 1985. Hat tip: Jezebel)

From You're So Vain to Obsessed: A Brief History of Songs Not About You

So Mariah "Sparkle Pony" Carey's "Obsessed" is about Eminem, right? Right? What prize do I win for the sheer obviousness of Mariah's summer pop ode to her ego? A bootleg copy of The Real Slim Shady? A DVD collectors edition of Wild'n Out?

There's nothing like a pop song that's about someone you don't like any more. A diss track. Rappers do it so much it's pointless, but they normally don't try to hide who the object of their ire is. I mean, we all know of the great Kool Moe Dee/LL Cool J wars. Those were awesome. But I'm specifically talking about songs that "aren't about you." The greatest diss jams are the kind that are thinly vieled hate Valentines to assholes. Like one of the greatest songs ever written, the original who is she singing about jam, Carly Simon's "You're So Vain."

More after the jump.

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The Diva Has Landed

Here at The Black Snob you may have noticed a theme with me. That I'm obsessed with politics, black people, not-black-black-people, TJ Holmes, the media, Jayonce and larger than life, incredibly fabulous/difficult women.

And I just love those crazy broads.

The big hair. The big ego. The abuse of plebeians. I'd never want to be BFF's with these women as I want "no more drama in my life," vis-a-vie hip hop diva Mary J. Blige. But I love them all the same. Those big Nubian Amazonian Asian Monoliths of Prada, diamonds and cocaine.

What's not to like?

Which brings us to Whitney and her long return from the depths of Bobby Brown and their co-dependent crack marriage.

Houston, with her legendary voice and weird mix of classy n' trashy, has been popping up at every little event showing that the Diva is back and ready to mingle again. She's dropped the ghetto facade and returning to her roots of suppressing her inner philistine just long enough to do things like appear at birthday parties and gala openings.

This time she popped up at a Muhammad Ali celebrity fighting event in Scottsdale, Ariz. Let us see how the recovering Bobby-holic worked it. (All pictures from WireImage)

Cousin Dionne! You look fab! Cousin Whitney, your boobies look awesome!

"If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal."

And super producer Clive Davis makes three. Is it just me or is Clive Whitney's sobriety coach? Or Cocaine Anonymous sponsor, because that old queen is everywhere Whitney goes.

And now for some other things at the event:

Actor/All-Day-Fool Terry Crews "performing."

Holly Robinson-Peete looking fierce. Yet another black actress who can't seem to find regular employment.

Shaq n' wife Shaunie. I guess they settled that she only wants me for my papers dispute.