While some artists drop albums at least once a year, there are a select few who take their time between projects. These unique individuals recognize that it takes time to create an album that shows growth and their development as artists. Also, they make sure their fans will appreciate the blood, sweat, and tears that they put into their work. Not to take anything away from those artists who release albums more frequently, but I’ve come to appreciate those who realize that all good things take time.

In a world where it's more important to make money than to do what you love, it can become quite difficult to have the best of both worlds: living your dream, while making good money doing it. Oftentimes, you find that it's more realistic to have a job that "pays the bills," while pursuing your "dream job" in your spare time. There are a handful of people who actually get paid millions to do what they've always wanted to do, but those same people have to pay the price.

Growing up without one parent is sometimes traumatic for any child. For Pastor Melva Henderson, living her life without either of her parents was a reality. Thanks to her grandmother who raised her, she was able to face adversity, answer her calling and push through, despite not being raised within a “normal” family structure.

We’re living in a world where more children are striving to be entertainers. Some want to sing, rap, dance, model or act, while others strive to be superstar athletes. The response to, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is slowly changing. The usual answers of doctor, nurse, lawyer or firefighter are no longer as common, but this can be attributed to the amount of attention, respect and praise society gives the entertainment industry, which heavily influences the very children that are our future.

Like most things, the Milwaukee-based Signature Dance Company started as an idea. All it took was three motivated women to bring an idea from its original state and transform it into something tangible, something real that the entire community could benefit from.

As an adult, I’m sure you equate most of your childhood memories with some type of food. More times than not, family time revolved around dining out at a sit-down restaurant or grabbing a McDonald’s happy meal as a reward. Summer days were filled with many trips to the corner store for all types of junk food: cookies, candy, chips and whatever else your heart desired. During the school year, trips to that same corner store, after school and even sometimes before school, were most likely the highlight of the day. Being able to eat whatever you want has always been a rite of passage for children. After all, all of your “baby teeth” fall out anyway.

There are many people who are born with silver spoons in their mouths, but for actor Cory Hardrict, this wasn’t a reality. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, Chicago Heights to be exact, Cory has no qualms about giving credit where credit is due: Chicago is the city that made him the man that he is today.

Like most people, photographer Michael Schmelling set out with a plan, an idea for a book that he wanted to publish. Using Outkast’s record, “Aquemini” as inspiration, Schmelling’s initial intent was to publish a photo book that would somehow mirror or pay homage to Big Boi and Andre 3000’s hard work that came in the form of their 1998 hit.

Sometimes it seems hard to believe that all entertainers weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouths. For some of them, this notion may be true, but for every one of them, there’s at least another who has a rags-to-riches story. While some famous people have been rolling in expensive cars and dressing in extravagant clothing for most of their lives, there are those who didn’t get their first car or buy their first piece of designer clothing until they achieved a certain level of success.

If you’re in a relationship, having a mate that has a best friend of the opposite sex can be intimidating and just plain old irritating, especially when many people act as if “Women and Men Can’t Be Just Friends” is the 11th Commandment.