“In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer.”

Welcome to Retro Rewind, the TGJ original feature carved out to celebrate TV and Film’s game-changing past.

Today, we make our way back to 1997, the year in which the world was first introduced to the TV series ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’

Named after the widely panned movie of the same name, ‘Buffy’ tells the tale of a sixteen-year old Valley girl chosen by fate to slay the forces of darkness and the evil that can be high school.

The layered character was portrayed by ‘All My Children‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar who led the series to groundbreaking territory alongside its creator Joss Whedon (‘The Avengers’) on a ratings and critical front.

How so?

One academic study of the hit show came to the following conclusion:

In the world of Buffy the problems that teenagers face become literal monsters. A mother can take over her daughter’s life (“Witch”); a strict stepfather-to-be really is a heartless machine (“Ted”); a young lesbian fears that her nature is demonic (“Goodbye Iowa” and “Family”); a girl who has sex with even the nicest-seeming guy may discover that he afterwards becomes a monster (“Innocence”).

Ready to reunite with the demon-slaying cheerleader?

Catch its unaired pilot and a little action from her rival Kendra (portrayed by Bianca Lawson) and Ashanti below…

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Individually, Odell Beckham Jr and Drake reign supreme as leaders in their respective fields.

Together, they make for a scandal-free dynamic duo making major bank on the field and on the charts.

Keen to celebrate their brotherhood was GQ magazine who caught up with Beckham to discuss his ascent in NFL, his unique sense of style and the part he played in supporting his ‘Hotline Bling’ ringing sibling as he recorded his latest project ‘VIEWS.’

Read below…

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Blasts from the past rarely wow as much on second impact. Yet, Cher Lloyd is setting out to change that narrative with comeback single ‘Activated.’

The star rose to prominence on The X Factor UK and enjoyed a chart run on home soil which eventually landed her a US deal with the early incarnation of L.A Reid‘s Epic.

A string of respectable Stateside placements followed; yet with the label being in its infancy and no sizeable smash in sight, Lloyd quietly departed.

With the music industry being one of no guarantees, many assumed the singer had faded into the Pop abyss.

In reality, she was picking up the pieces. A journey which has led her to the release of this new number.

Can she activate another run of relevance? Take a listen below and let us know…

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Lady Gaga is no stranger to headlines – and yesterday she was all sorts of a fixture.

The Pop superstar’s split from fiance Taylor Kinney dominated the news-cycle and now the singer has shattered her silence on the matter.

What did she have to say? Find out after the jump…

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Taylor Swift may be a Pop titan, but social media is making child’s play of cutting her down to size.

The newswire exploded this AM when the ‘Bad Blood’ belter was seemingly “exposed” by Kim Kardashian. 

Clearly in a mischievous mood, the talent-challenged reality star leaked a clip of Swift seemingly ok-ing the track ‘Famous’ by her husband Kanye West. The same track she would later take the rapper to task for calling her a “bitch” on.

The apparent exposé set the net ablaze, yet the flames were raging most on Twitter – which had entirely no chill.

See what we mean below…

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Looking at Rihanna‘s post ‘Umbrella’ success, it’s hard to believe she was once labelled a one-hit-wonder. Today we journey back to 2006 – just before she cemented her “here to stay” status.

This week’s From The Vault pick is ‘Unfaithful’.

The follow up to 80’s kissed ’S.O.S,’ ‘Unfaithful’ was the work of winning squad Stargate and Ne-Yo; a collective who’d craft a slew of other hits for her down the line.

Serviced as Ms. Fenty’s first ballad single, it was quite a risk given the domination of danceable cuts.  Yet, it would quickly become apparent, the pick paid off as the track became the stunner’s third US and UK Top 10 – peaking at #6 and #2 respectively during Summer 2006. With the single reaching the Top 10 of several European countries, it was safe to say RiRi had almost completely done away with the notion of being a novelty act.

Based on the 2002 movie of the same name – starring Richard Gere, the song’s accompanying visual saw Ri stray on her boyfriend. A visual mirroring of the lyrics, she is depicted feeling remorseful about the act. The cinematic piece showcased a more mature side of the star; one that would only heighten comparisons to idol-turned-rival Beyonce (who is routinely praised for being able to do it all).  It was the first of many Rihanna videos directed by Anthony Mandler.

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Kudos to Def Jam for releasing this track as a single; for not only did the gamble paid off,  it was a huge brick in the wall that is RiRi’s giant sized career.

The song reclaimed the narrative concerning her voice (or lack-thereof) and made her an act capable of selling an “emotional” ballad. This, in spite of whether folk thought her vocals  fit or not. Most importantly, they gave her that real, raw and relatable appeal that’s been her unique selling point ever since. Indeed, she wasn’t the scorned female, the victim, instead she was the abuser, the guilty one, the bad girl.

And just like that, a star was really born and – as they say – the rest is history.

After a decade and some change in the game, how much more mileage do you think “that Rihanna reign” has left in it?

Your thoughts?

VH1’s ‘Hip Hop Honors’ definitely missed the spot for fans of ‘Hot Spot’ hitmaker Foxy Brown.

The annual tribute ceremony may have served up epic performances in homage to female rap pioneers Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott and more, but some fans complained the edition had some noticeable exclusions from its list of honorees – namely Brown and Lauryn Hill.

While Hill has opted to remain mum on the snub, Brown has joined her fans in ‘checking’ the music network for not doing their homework.

Read her statement below:

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It’s that time of year again.

The 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards air September 18th and will celebrate the titles and talents who’ve made the most marked impact.

As the top honor in television, all eyes are on which shows and stars have nabbed nominations.

Well, wonder no more. Because the full list of nominations for the main categories have been unveiled.

View below…

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Newlyweds Ciara and Russell Wilson stepped out in style last night at the 2016 ESPY Awards. 

The power couple, who tied the knot at a British castle last week, made their first public appearance since the nuptials at the Los Angeles event.

Sparkling in unison, The Wilsons made sure they made the moment count.

Their attendance comes after Seahawks player Russell opened up in an interview about having children with his wife – who has a two-year-old son from a previous relationship.

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It’s been a longtime coming, but change has finally come for the status of Tinashe‘s new album.

And thankfully for fans, it’s “good” change.

For, the stage scorcher is finally ready to re-rev the campaign for sophomore album ‘Joyride.’

How?

With the release of new single ‘SuperLove.’

After spilling the track’s existence at the BET Awards, the 23-year-old is pushing ahead full steam with it’s roll-out.

Taking to Instagram, she revealed that the song – reportedly produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart – will drop sooner than you might think.

Details below…

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Brand Future is expanding into the lucrative world of fashion.

Details below….

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In today’s social media age, Instagram has become the new text message for some folk.

Case in point Bow Wow.

The rapper took to his page to offer a very public hi-5 to longtime partner…in rhyme Omarion.

This morning, B2K‘s former nucleus announced his split from Apryl – the mother of his two young children.

Find out what his ‘Girlfriend’ collaborator Bow had to say below…

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