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PHOTOS: First Official Images of Idris Elba in "Luther" Season Three

PHOTOS: BBC

Your first look at Idris Elba as Detective Chief Investigator John Luther in Season Three of the BBC series Luther. BBC has confirmed the series will return on BBC One this summer. The Beeb released the first official images for the upcoming four episode third season on Friday ...

And the actor released a behind-the-scenes image from the editorial on his Facebook fan page. One more image and watch the Season Three announcement AFTER THE JUMP ...

Mark Anthony Neal on Black Masculinity and Leroy of "Fame"

NPR's Michele Norris hosted a fascinating discussion on Black men and "hyper-masculinity" on Thursday with Duke University s Professor of African & African American Studies Mark Anthony Neal. Listen to it HERE.

Neal is the author of the newly-released Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities, which analyzes how high profile Black men such as Jay-Z and Barack Obama frame our perceptions of Black masculinity in America. The "Leroy" in the title refers to the character "Leroy Johnson" played by actor Gene Anthony Ray in the iconic 1980s film and television series Fame. Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities was released in late April.

[I] watch[ed] Fame on television as a high school student in the Bronx and [became] fascinated by this character. The cornrows, the way his body moved, the way he dressed, the way that he dealt with the black world, the way he dealt with the white world - particularly in the arts school that he went to, and I was just fascinated by this character.

But as of 15 and 16 year old, I also thought this was a character that was gay, and we hadn't seen an out gay character on television in the early 1980s, and nothing about the show even suggested that he was an out gay character, but there was just some way that I read the character that struck me as interesting.

The passage on "basketballs vs violins" and hip-hop is particularly insightful.

The example I always use is if we see a black man with a basketball, we don't even have to process that. We've seen it so many times in our lives, we know exactly what that means. If we were to see a black man with a violin, that gives us reason to pause, right? We have all of these questions that are now attached, you know, how did he get the violin? Does he know how to play the violin? How can he afford the violin? I mean we can go on and on.

Hip-hop becomes a very interesting space in this conversation because it [has] monetized the image of black masculinity, and made several of these figures incredibly wealthy - the Jay-Zs and the Snoop Doggs and the Will Smiths But it's also a space that limits our understanding of the range of possibilities of what black masculinity can look like.

It's a terrific interview and definitely worth the time to listen.

Among other credits, Ray also danced in The Weather Girls' music video for "It's Raining Men". The song and video have became in gay and Black gay pop culture. Ray later struggled with addictions and homelessness and died from HIV/AIDS-related complications in 2003. He was only 41-years-old.

On a personal note: Professor Neal is spot-on with his take of Leroy. I was a pre-teen and teenager during the television run of Fame in the 1980s. Leroy was fearless, fascinating and all kinds of sexy. It was one of the very few television shows that I watched during those years.

VIDEO: UK: Meet the Adorable Gay Couple in the Barclays Television Ad

Twenty-three-year-old Niki Mahona and his 19-year-old boyfriend Luis Donegan-Brown are the gay couple featured in the popular UK television spot for Barclays' personalized debit cards. The thirty second advert has been described as one of that nation's  "few mainstream TV commercials with an openly same-sex couple."

Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

Gay Star News reports the couple were "street cast" outside Selfridges department store in London.

They picked Niki Mahon outside his job at London’s famous Selfridges department store. And they gave him and his 19-year-old real-life boyfriend, Luis Donegan-Brown—who also works at Selfridges—a taste of fame.

The couple have only been together for just over a year but now they have the claim to fame of being one of the very few same-sex partnerships ever depicted in a British mainstream TV commercial. And it’s been a success—so far an incredible 300,000 Barclays customers have personalized their debit cards.

"I am proud that I can be open about my sexuality and not shy away from comments," adds Niki Mahona. "For many people who aren’t able to come out, I would hope that this might help plant the seed in their mind that they too can be open."

The Barclays television spot is also one of the rare examples of a same-sex POC couple in mainstream advertising. Wells Fargo—another multinational financial services corporation—used several Black gay couples in advertising campaigns. Lufthansa Airlines also used a multiracial male couple in an ad campaign several years ago on Rod 2.0.

Love, love the spot. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

LISTEN: Kelly Rowland Airs Her "Dirty Laundry"

Kelly Rowland debuted a new track this morning that is creating a buzz . "Dirty Laundry" was written by The Dream and third single from her upcoming fourth studio album Talk a Good Game.

The track is catchy but it is the lyrics that standout: Rowland sings about being in an abusive relationship, experiencing physical and emotional violence at the hands of her boyfriend and her initial feelings on Beyoncé's success. Listen AFTER THE JUMP ...

VIDEO: TRAILER: Michael Ealy is J.J. Abrams' "Almost Human" Android

SCREENCAPS: FOX

Here is your first look at the first trailer for FOX's Almost Human, the new futuristic television series from J.J. Abrams and Fringe's J.H. Wyman.

Michael Ealy is cast as the android partner of an LAPD officer played by Karl Urban. Ealy apparently understands life and humanity much more than many humans.

Watch the clip AFTER THE JUMP ...

LISTEN: Sylvester's "Mighty Real" Remixed by Ralphi Rosario

The late disco legend Sylvester James—better known as Sylvester—died 25 years ago in 1988. Sylvester was one of the earliest disco stars that was openly gay. Sylvester's music and legacy will be reintroduced to a new generation this summer with the release of Mighty Real: Greatest Dance Hits.

The collection will be released on June 25th and features "original album tracks, rare extended mixes and a new remix" of the iconic "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" by the Grammy Award-winning, Chicago-based "house music" legend, DJ producer Ralphi Rosario, who has worked with Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Madonna.

Listen AFTER THE JUMP ...

Shortly before his 1988 death due to AIDS-related causes,  the late disco legend bequeathed future royalties to two San Francusco HIV/AIDS groups. Sylvester died deeply in debt—but disco never died. The introduction of iTunes has "helped introduce Sylvester's music to a new generation and the online sales of his songs brought in cash to the estate."  By 2010. AIDS Emergency Fund and Project Open Hand began sharing more than $140,000 in music royalties from his estate.

The liner notes for Mighty Real: Greatest Dance Hits will be written by Joshua Gamson, the University of San Francisco professor who won the 2006 Lambda Literary Award/Stonewall Book Award for The Fabulous Sylvester: the Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco.

More music from the collection in weeks to come. Break out the disco ball with your morning cup of coffee and listen to the ferosh "Ralphi Rosario Dub Mix" of "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" AFTER THE JUMP ...

VIDEO: Ciara Talks Rihanna Feud, "Body Party" on "Wendy Williams"

Ciara stopped by Rod 2.0 earlier this week. On Wednesday, the Grammy Award-winning singer slash model appeared on Wendy Williams sporting a ferosh pair of Gianvito Rossi strapped heels and talked "Body Party"—the first single of Ciara’s upcoming fifth and self-titled studio album—Nicki Minaj, her love life and the Twitter feud with Rihanna.

"I’m totally in a different space and it’s all positivity and love from my perspective and how I get down," said Ciara. "I wish her well."

The new album is due July 9.  Watch the interview AFTER THE JUMP ...

LISTEN: Ciara Talks "Body Party" and New Music with Rod 2.0

The new music video for "Body Party"—the first single of Ciara’s upcoming fifth and self-titled studio album—is gorgeous, luxe and ridiculously sexy. The singer, songwriter, dancer, actress and Givenchy couture model is clearly in her element at a fab house party as she meets a handsome man and performs a private dance. The man is her real-life boyfriend, the Atlanta based-rapper Future. They both co-wrote the single, which is a feel-good, 90-inspired dance track.

Ludacris makes a cameo along with Stevie J and Joseline Hernandez of VH1's hit reality series Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta.

Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...

"I just wanted to have fun in the video," Ciara told Rod 2.0. "I wanted to go back to when guys weren’t too cool to slow dance and everyone had the best time at a great house party. Not the largest house party but just fun. And I had to shoot it in Atlanta."

The release of the "Body Party"music video coincided with Billboard's new tracking formula and has helped the track catapult into the top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "The clip, which premiered on the first day of the chart's streaming tracking week (April 22), garnered 3.8 million U.S. views in its first seven days," reports Billboard. There are now more than 6.3 million views exactly two weeks after the music video's release.

Listen to the interview:

Hopefully the new sound and the buzz around the new single—and a "soon to be released" second single, she promises—are a winning strategy. The Atlanta-born singer released her debut studio album Goodies in 2004. The album produced three huge singles "Goodies", "1, 2 Step" and "Oh". The second studio album Ciara: The Evolution shot to Number One and produced several more hits, including "Get Up" and "Like a Boy". In less than ten years, Ciara has landed 10 top ten singles on Billboard’s Hot 100, sold more than 7 million albums, won a Grammy, three BET Awards and three MTV Awards. Not bad for 28-years-old

"Ciara" will be her fifth studio album—track listing and pre-orders at iTunes—and is scheduled for a July 9 release. "I started working on this record more than a year ago," said Ciara. "Since then, I have found my creative clarity on the direction I wanted to go."

Ashley Walters Travels with "Doctor Who" to "The Centre of the Tardis"

SCREENCAPS: BBC

British rapper, actor and Rod 2.0 crush object Ashley Walters—last seen serving shirtless BQ sex siren gogo boy realness for UK homostyle magazine Attitude—was the featured guest star in last week's episode of Doctor Who.

Watch the episode—it may not remain long on YouTube—and interviews with Walters AFTER THE JUMP ...

Walters discusses working on the episode "The Centre of the Tardis."

It's a hard job working on Doctor Who. It looks flawless on the screen but it's hard. Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise [Coleman] have to put in a lot of work. Matt was so humble and helped me so much. I'd love to do it again.

More HD screen captures of Walters, watch the episode—it may not remain long on YouTube!—and interviews AFTER THE JUMP ...

Hot 97 DJ Mister Cee: "If I Choose Not to Come Out, That's My Choice"

New York City's popular HOT 97 DJ Mister Cee went on the air this morning to address his latest arrest for soliciting a male prostitute, which happened Thursday night in Brooklyn. The prostitute turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Cee now claims that the undercover officer was a woman and not a man. The deejay insists he "is not gay" but if he "choose not to come out" that would be his business, reports MTV. The deejay claims that he has "suspended himself" and will be off the air for an undisclosed period.

According to Cee, who was born Calvin Lebrun, before the arrest he was approached by an undercover female police officer when he pulled his car over in Brooklyn to make a phone call. The female offered up sex, which he denied, but Cee says he was the victim of a "sting operation." "They tried to turn it around and say the female officer was a male officer. It was a sting operation," he maintained, again refuting the gay rumors.

Things began getting a little heated when Darden casted doubt and said that Cee was using "code talk." "Let's say if I'm lying, that's my choice," Cee proposed, after a Hot 97 DJ began to play Aly-Us' "Follow Me," a '90s dance record often associated with the gay club community. "If I'm lying and I chose not to come out, that's my choice."

This is not the first time Mister Cee has been implicated with rentboys. The radio personality and producer was arrested for public lewdness in April 2011 after cops "caught him in a car receiving oral sex from another man." The deejay was also previously arrested for loitering for the purpose of prostitution.

"Cee admitted that he does regularly engage in soliciting female prostitutes and paying strippers for sex," added AllHipHop. "But reinforced that he does not seek out men or" transgender women.

Cee had his first major break in hip-hop as Big Daddy Kane’s deejay. He produced Notorious B.I.G.’s first album Ready to Die.

Mister Cee earned Power 105's "Donkey of the Day" this morning. "Come out the closet and stop trolling for trade on the streets like this is the 1970s," said Charlamagne Tha God. "This is 2013. All you need is a boyfriend and an apartment."

Good point. But would hip-hop welcome openly gay deejays, producers and artists?

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