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Whether you're tired of seeing the half shaved head of Cassie or Rihanna strutting around in punk rock inspired clothes, this edgy look is definitely not going anywhere.

Stud details on shoes and bags are still prevalent, chains are hanging off jeans and stilettos, and black is as evident as ever. Get it done without looking like you're rocking a Halloween costume.

You could throw on a tough leather motorcycle jacket, shredded skinny jeans with bleach/paint splatters, or even just black nail polish. The key is to keep it feminine and sexy. Get your bad girl on by pairing unapologetic pieces like the Gonna Get Yours Tee by DimePiece or the Love Bites Tee by Hellz Bellz, with a pair of Ripped Olivia Leggings by LNA.

Love Bites Tee by Hellz Bellz

Ripped Olivia Leggings by LNA

Heels that were made for trampling like these:

Vaugn Sandal by Report Signature

Fierce eye-catching kicks too:

Galow Hi Stripes by Creative Recreation

And intimidating purses:

Blinging Lips Cross Body Purse

Raquel Porthole Clutch by Christian Audigier

What do you think ladies, is this look for you or will you pass on this one?

See more from DrJays.com's sister site, DJPremium.com - click here.

I recently read the legendary Gladys Knight's comments about Hip-Hop and the culture thereof as it pertains to hindering the growth of black music. In a lot of ways, present day black music in a general sense is in a very bad state. From Hip-Hop to the level of R&B and Soul or the lack of in mainstream media, we are seemingly suffering across the board. However, my concerns are focused on the comments about Hip-Hop.

Once AGAIN, the attempt to separate the generations amongst us as black Americans is having much success. In dealing with the older generation of our people, our elders refuse to see or seek the GOOD facets of Hip-Hop, or even the cultural aspects of Hip-Hop when it comes to improvisation, creativity, research, and skill. The fact that TRUE Hip-Hoppers respect, glorify, and honor the great ones who came before us in our records, and the use of what we call "samples" speaks volumes. A lot of musicians I've spoken with such as Michael Henderson, Gamble and Huff, Robert Allred from the Dynamic Five, and Leon Sylvers understand the BRIDGE we are building between generations. The reason I now listen to Bobby Bland, Mandrill, Billy Paul, The Dells, The Drells, Choice Four, The Undisputed Truth and countless other 60's and 70's greats, and why my 60 yr old brothers and sisters listen to it have two totally different paths.

Looking at my life as a 34 year-old and being from the South, my parents believed that anything outside of James Cleveland was secular. So an abundance of 70's soul, even Gladys Knight and the Pips, was not played in my house. Hip-Hop was the way that I found all of these artists, traveling the world and collecting records. I learned my history of black music through a vessel that a lot of my elders see as vulgar and offensive in a GENERAL sense. Hip-Hop was not always that way. In 1976, Afrika Bambaataa started the Universal Zulu Nation in the Bronx, New York, to give a creative outlet to rival gangs. However, today our law enforcement believes that hip-hop incites gang violence.

It was because of artists like Public Enemy, KRS-One, Brand Nubian, and A Tribe Called Quest that I heard names such as Carter G. Woodson, Medgar Evers, Steve Biko, Kwame Toure', Marcus Garvey, Fannie Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, or ANYBODY outside of Martin Luther King and Harriet Tubman in public schools. These artists spoke about our elders in song, whether using the funk and soul records, or telling stories and mentioning names. From 1988 to 1993, black teens' enrollment in college, especially HBCUs, rose to 45% because of the nature of the arts; from the African Medallions, to the Malcolm X t-shirts, the African-American College Alliance shirts Martin Lawrence wore on Def Comedy Jam, to School Daze, to the most powerful hour in black TV, The Cosby Show and A Different World. "Droppin' Knowledge" if you will was made to be a "cool" or "in-crowd" thing. Unfortunately, the powers that be were against Hip-Hop being used as a NEW vessel to open the eyes of black kids and remind them to honor the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's. It is very odd that around the same time, a more negative form of hip-hop was being PUSHED to the forefront, so our elders could turn their heads away from what we were REALLY trying to say, and divide us as ALWAYS.

Our elders turned away from our younger generation, which resulted in a lack of understanding of the TRUE essence of the Hip Hop art form. Subsequently, this led to resentment amongst the younger generation. The younger generation speaks- if there is no patience to understand our voice, then why should we try to learn where we came from? This only widens the divide.

HOWEVER, the true essence of what hip-hop was built on was and STILL is the tie that binds. We must learn and understand that the true version of ANY art form is not and will NEVER BE displayed in the mass media. As a result, it will stay "underground," or stolen from us. Do we actually believe that those same powers that control radio stations want our children educated through an emcee or an R&B singer who could inspire social change amongst the youth?

Do we actually think that those powers want the two, now three generations to be united and have a full understanding of each other's side of the story? I agree that YES the present state of hip-hop on THESE SAME AIRWAYS are less desirable; the same way the blacks who survived the Ragtime, Great Depression and Big Band Jazz looked down upon the black exploitation films of the 70's, your Fred Williamson movies, Ohio Players Album Covers, or the language on Millie Jackson records.

Let's pray that my generation loses the feeling of resentment, and at the same time, my elders take the time and patience to seek the GOOD messages and highlight the BEAUTIFUL things about Hip-Hop that mass media WILL NOT show you. Otherwise, we as a race will always be divided, and once again, they will have succeeded in their mission.

Here is a verse from the Hip-Hop song entitled "You Must Learn" as performed by Boogie Down Productions (KRS-One), from the album "The BluePrint" released in 1989. This verse was one of the key reasons why I went to college:

"I believe that if you're teaching history
Filled with straight-up facts, no mystery
Teach the student what needs to be taught
'Cause black and white kids both take shots
When one doesn't know about the other one's culture
Ignorance swoops down like a vulture
'Cause you don't know that you ain't just a janitor
No one told you about Benjamin Banneker
A brilliant black man that invented the almanac
Can't you see where KRS is coming at
With Eli Whitney, Haile Selassie
Grandville Woods made the walkie-talkie
Lewis Latterman improved on Edison
Charles Drew did a lot for medicine
Garrett Morgan made the traffic lights
Harriet Tubman freed the slaves at night
Madame CJ Walker made a straightenin' comb
But you won't know this if you weren't shown
The point I'm gettin' at, it might be harsh
'Cause we're just walkin' around brainwashed
So what I'm sayin' is not to diss a man
We need the 89 school system
One that caters to a black return
Because you must learn." 

Today, ANY type of revolution, even in SONG...will never by televised.....

Peace, Love, Soul, and Hip-Hop,
Professor Patrick Douthit, aka 9th Wonder
Grammy Award Winning Producer/DJ/Lecturer
National Ambassador for Hip-Hop Relations and Popular Culture-NAACP

 Not too much Hip Hop in the top 10 this week. Jay Z is the only one representing in the top 10 and continues to sell a lot of of albums.  The other Hip-Hop from last week suffered from some serious drops in sales.

We have a new number one this week.  Pearl Jam enters the countdown with their new album Backspacer.  They are followed by Jay-Z who drops a spot on the countdown.  The Blueprint 3 sells 130,000 copies and claims the number two spot.

Three Days Grace enters the countdown at number three with their new album Life Starts Now.  Whitney Houston comes behind them in the number four spot with her latest album, I Look To You, selling 62,000 copies.

Miley Cyrus’ Time Of Our Lives comes in at number five.  She is followed by Brand New’s, Daisy, and Five Finger Death Punch’s War Is The Answer.

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, come in at number eight with his compilation, Number Ones.

Rounding out the top ten is Harry Connick Jr. with My Songs and David Gray with Draw The Line.

Moving beyond the top 10 we have Drake whose latest album, So Far Gone, sells 34,000 copies but drops from the sixth position to 12.  Also, let me give a quick clarification.  So Far Gone is not Drake’s debut album.  It is a re-release by his record company of a mixtape.  There were a few comments last week that he didn’t sell enough but in actuality he sold a pretty decent amount of an album that is available for free on the internet.  70,000 last week and 34,000 this week?…Hate it or love it that’s pretty impressive.

Kid Cudi also take a drop this week from four to 17 with his debut album Man On The Moon: The End Of Day.  The Kanye West protégé sells 30,000 copies of his album this week.

The Black Eyed Peas sell another 28,000 copies of their latest album The E.N.D and secure the number 18 spot.

Last up Lil Boosie takes a drop from the number nine spot to number 44 with his new album Superbad: The Return of Boosie.  The southern MC sells 13,000 copies of his latest.

 Even though there were quite a few drops for Hip-Hop on the countdown, there are a lot of new albums coming out this week.

Dropping This Week

For the last few weeks we have had some good artist coming out with albums.  Hopefully fans are starting to see that decent music is getting out there.  This week has some nice new ones.

Let’s get things started off right with Staten Island’s own Ghostface Killah.  His brother from the Wu, Raekwon, dropped a well received album a couple of weeks ago so hopefully Ghost can keep the Wu numbers up.  Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City is a title that would mean career suicide for most rap artist, but with eight other critically acclaimed albums under his belt Ghost is sure not to disappoint.  The album features duets with R&B artists including Shareefa, Raheem DeVaughn, Jack Night, Estelle, John Legend, Lloyd, Ron Brownz, and (of course) Ne-Yo.

Next up is the New York group Anti-Pop Consortium with their fifth album Fluorescent Black.  The group has done a lot of work in the underground since their debut back in the late nineties.  After going through a break up, getting back together and dropping another album, the group returns with their experimental blend of Hip-Hop.

Then we come to Corey Miller a.k.a C-Murder.  Although recently losing his appeal the incarcerated rapper drops his ninth studio album with guest appearances from Snoop, Juvenile and B.G.  I could be wrong but I thought he had made a name change to get away from the whole murder image.  At this point members of the NAACP are calling for an investigation into the case but for the meantime it appears Corey Miller will remain in jail for awhile.  Fans out there can support him by getting the album.

 Across the pond we have Dizzee Rascal who is dropping his fourth studio album Tongue N’ Cheek.  The London born MC usually puts out good music that is well received by the U.K. crowd where each of his albums have sold over 100,000.  He doesn’t get the same response here in the U.S but this album could be the turn around.

            South Florida MC Dynas did some work with Rawkus records a couple of years back and now comes forward with his debut disc.  The Apartment is not being released through Rawkus but should still maintain that underground sound with guest features from Slick Rick, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and J. Dilla.  If you get a chance take a listen and give him a chance to show you there is more in Florida than Rick Ross and Plies.

Underground Houston rapper E.S.G returns with his…actually you can never really tell how many albums he actually has but I think the count is somewhere around sixteen.  His latest, Everyday Street Gangsta, has features from Houston regulars including Bun B (yeah I know he’s from Port Author), Slim Thug, Hawk, Chamillionaire, Big Moe, and Trae.  Those that are fans of the Houston sound should not be disappointed by this.

Keeping it in Houston we have Lil Flip with his fifth studio album Respect Me.  The album heavily features Jay Townsend and comes two years after the release of his 2X Platinum disc, I Need Mine.  As a matter of fact Lil Flips last three albums have gone at least platinum so we’ll see if he is able to keep up the streak in this economy.

Former Westside connection rapper Mack 10 returns with his ninth studio album, Soft White.  The album is supposed to delve into some personal issues from the last couple of years and features artist like Red Café, Glasses Malone, J. Holiday, Anthony Hamilton, The Game, Jim Jones, Lil Wayne, Birdman, Akon, and Mannie Fresh.  Mack 10 is coming with an army on this album so hopefully fans will be satisfied.

Lebron James has a documentary coming out about his trials, tribulations, and eventual success in his high school and NBA career.  You know what that means….super produced soundtrack having very little to do with the film.  There should be some good music on here though.  The soundtrack features Drake, T.I., Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Rich Boy, Soulja Boy, Tank, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Tyrese, Toni Braxton, Jordin Sparks, and Omarion.  There has got to be a hit or three on there.  Eminem is spitting pretty hard on that Drake song so this may be one you want to pick up.  So keep an eye out for the More Than A Game soundtrack.

            Playaz Circle is back after their 2007 Disturbing tha Peace debut, Supply & Demand with their new album Flight 360: The Takeoff.  Now some would say they played second fiddle to Lil’ Wayne on their hit song “Duffle Bag Boy”, but the duo returns with Mr. Carter as well as Raekwon, OJ Da Juiceman, Ludacris, Bobby Valentino, Jagged Edge (I’m as surprised as you are), Young Dro, and Cee-Lo.

The next album comes from New York Mc Skyzoo.  I would say something about his disc, The Salvation, but he already did a good job so here’s his quote.  "If you're looking for mixtape tracks, you may have to look elsewhere. But if you're looking for music that tells a story (possibly yours), music that is the most honest of its kind, music that makes sense when you play it, then this is where your $15 belongs on September 29th. The album is everything I've ever wanted to say." -SKYZOO

Last, but certainly not least, is Westcoast MC Warren G.  The man who brought us The G Funk Era drops his seventh studio album The G Files.  Dude is a legend on the West so there is not much to say about him.  The album features Snoop Dogg, Raekwon (Snoop and Rae are busy with the features this week), Travis Barker, Nate Dogg, Ray-J, and Cassie.

            That’s it for “Dropping This Week”.  Go out, find a store, and find an album.

YOU KNOW WHERE YOU GOT IT FIRST

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YOU KNOW WHERE YOU GOT IT FIRST

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