Talk:Karrine Steffans

Steffans in college speaking tours

The article currently states "Steffans visits college campuses on speaking engagements to speak to young women about the dangers of the entertainment industry". However, no substantiation is provided for this. (I "citation needed"-tagged that statement but the tag was removed, without explanation.) We need links, preferably to college sources, verifying Steffans' college tour engagements. Also, we need to have verification that the speaking tours are/have been happening on a regular basis. Otherwise, the accurate description would be "Steffans has visited college campuses [etc]".-The Gnome (talk) 09:29, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

The sentence you have quoted is a lead-paragraph summary of content located elsewhere in the article. As for "on a regular basis", I don't follow her activities so I can't comment on recentness or frequency, but I haven't seen a reliable source saying she has ceased. I know she has done campus lecturing in 2005 through 2008 just from some sources I've read (one example), as well as related panel-type discussions on Oprah (already mentioned in article), NPR, VH1-News and the like. Xenophrenic (talk) 20:00, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for providing the necessary sources for the claim that Steffans speaks regularly at colleges. Good work. They will be inserted in the text. Until now, the two sources cited in the main body of the text were a Washington Post article that mentions nothing about speaking in colleges and the (Dominguez Hills) newsletter, which does. Incidentally, that lead-paragraph sentence is practically lifted verbatim from the newsletter's 2nd paragraph: "Steffans visits colleges to speak to young women about the little-known dangers of the entertainment industry." Since Wikipedia somewhat frowns upon such "perfect" copying, that sentence needs a little change, while the relevant section in the main body needs expansion. We should quote in more detail the content of her talks, for example. -The Gnome (talk) 22:20, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

The necessary sources for the fact that Steffans speaks at colleges already exist in the body of the article where that content is, as I've pointed out to you. I believe the Washington Post article was cited in support of her speaking engagements for this relevant text:

"Karrine's story is really hitting people on the street," Davis said. "Coming from her it's a real turning of the tide on how women have been treated inside hip-hop." Davis said she hoped Steffans would go into communities and speak about her experiences. According to her publicist, Gilda Squire, that's the plan. In October, Steffans will be at the Howard University bookstore during homecoming. Monique Mozee, the bookstore's marketing manager, also said it put the conversation about misogyny in hip-hop in a different light.

You are welcome to add additional sources if you'd like, and additional content is always welcome. I don't see any "perfect copying", just two different sentences that say almost the same thing - I'm sure alternative choices of wording exist to convey the same meaning. Xenophrenic (talk) 01:28, 17 August 2011 (UTC)

Dispute about source

Steffans has apparently done some "modelling work" for Smooth magazine, posing for photos in one of its "bikini issues". There exists a link to the magazine's website which presents that issue's contents. The Smooth photo shoot is also mentioned in Ms Steffans' memoirs. A Wiki editor objects to using both the direct source (the link to the magazine's website) and the indirect source (the subject's memoirs) for the photos in Smooth. I, on the other hand, prefer to have, if possible, additional information to what is provided by the subjects of biographies, per Wikipedia's specific rules. Opinions? -The Gnome (talk) 15:42, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

An editor objects to using an online link to "Smooth Girl" as a source about content that is actually in "Smooth (magazine)". Your edit summary, "pls do not remove *direct* sources and leave up only indirect ones (that, moreover, come from the subject of the BLP herself)", incorrectly describes "Smooth Girls" as a direct source. I've inserted an actual direct source since you feel it is necessary. Your edit summary also implies that her memoir is an "indirect" source for the mention of "A Man Apart", which is incorrect; and the "Smooth Girl" cite you keep inserting to support it doesn't even mention it. Xenophrenic (talk) 18:53, 20 August 2011 (UTC)

Karrine Steffans appeared in a photoshoot for Smooth Girls, alongside other girls clad in bikinis. The "actual direct source" you inserted is neither actual nor direct. (It can barely be labeled a source.) It consists of a Wikilink to the entry for the magazine Smooth and a simple date and issue number. This is not a "direct link" to outside, third parties but a link to another Wikipedia article! I will insert for the last time the link to the proper, actual and direct source: the magazine issue itself. You are advised to reflect on this minor matter and not to persist in your unwarranted and entirely unjustified edit warring.-The Gnome (talk) 23:19, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

For the last time? Thank you; I'll hold you to that. The content in that section of the article is fully sourced, including the content about her appearance in the Hollywood Swimsuit Edition of Smooth Magazine. The primary source "Smooth Magazine Issue 22" supports the fact that she appeared on the cover of that issue. As I noted above, you are inserting a link to "Smooth Girl" as a source for content that is actually in Smooth Magazine's 2nd annual (2004) Hollywood Swimsuit Issue. Xenophrenic (talk) 01:01, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

"Freaky Flows" mix tape

Clicking on the artwork at the cited link, it displays: "DT the Kingpin and DJ Rhude Present" and a track listing, as well as the title of the work, "Freaky Flows - Seductively Hosted by Karrine Steffans". Yes, 'DT the Kingpin' is the moniker of Dawton, a former King Magazine exec. I see no indication that Stephen Grey, whose moniker is coincidentally Freaky Flow, had anything to do with the production. Xenophrenic (talk) 07:10, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Quick web research turns out there are two Datwons that could be related to this item: one is the King mag exec and the other is DJ DaTwon, not listed in Wikipedia. It's clear, from additional sources, that the mixtape was put together by DJ Rhude but it's unclear who "DT" is. It could be that the exec is putting his name on it, as the ultimate sponsor, or that there were two DJs. Or maybe not, since the exec could be moonlighting as a DJ. Or maybe three: There's also a DJ Kingpen (same spelling as on the artwork), to add to the confusion. It could mean that "the Kingpen" is unrelated to the magazine's title. So, best to leave it up as the source has it, I agree. And I was wrong about Freaky Flow; it appears the term is now being used to denote (or claim) an uncommon, "freaky" production (see origin of the DJ's moniker). That mixtape's got nothing to do with the DJ Freaky Flow.-The Gnome (talk) 07:11, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Website update?

Has the location of the personal website been updated? It used to be www.karrine.com, but if I use an indirect link to that site, it maps me over to www.karrineandco.com. Can't tell if the site is active, though. I was going to change the URL in the article, but I'll leave it for now. Xenophrenic (talk) 06:58, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

It appears to be active, so I updated the link. Xenophrenic (talk) 17:26, 8 June 2012 (UTC)

Known first as "Superhead". It's her name.

Why is she not listed as Superhead? It's her name. There are hundred's of articles.... I linked to several but fucking Google is a blocked link and I don't want to waste anymore time on this after that little bullshit. WTF Google? Dumbasses. 99.102.213.31 (talk) 22:00, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

It's not her "name," but a nickname. Relevant info in the most recent archive of the Talk page. -The Gnome (talk) 12:40, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

Mention in the song "Love Me" by Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne uses the line "And she the best with that head / Even better then Karrine" in the very popular song "Love Me", so I think this should be mentioned in the article for people who are trying to understand that reference. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.147.153 (talk) 04:36, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

African American

Do not write a story that she is African American

http://bossip.com/888858/karrine-superhead-steffans-explains-slavery-comments-every-brown-person-is-not-the-same/

Mosfetfaser (talk) 18:34, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Regarding the recent edits by Mosfetfaser and @BrownHairedGirl:, I'm reinstating the more specific "African American" categories. Seeing those cats removed based on a gossip blog ("BOSSIP") is problematic to begin with, but it did prompt me to look into the matter further. I found the actual comments she made in this (Part 2) interview. (Part 1 is here.) Reviewing her comments in the context of the interview, it is clear that she is saying she prefers to self-identify as an "Islander" rather than "African American". When her comments during the interview raised controversy, she further clarified via Twitter and Instagram that she has "African" ancestry, but not "slaves" in her family history. (Flip through the screen captured images; the original tweets are at her Twitter account.) So removing the cats based on her one interview comment, outside of context, isn't supported.

After a very brief search, I see that she has also previously self-identified as an "African-American woman" between the age of 18 and 35, and a "black actress" in other interviews; her 2nd book was published under the GCP African American label; her resume still boasts that she was nominated for the "African American Literary Award"; BlackNews.com lists her as an African American; she's also listed in books on African American Literary Divas and African American Women's Rhetoric ...

Xenophrenic (talk) 21:41, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

The problem is that she isn't an African-American, she's from the Caribbean. Using "African-American" to describe such people is plain wrong, and the reason why I have always preferred to refer to them as "black". That there are numerous sources that tend to think that all black people are African-American indicates more about their reliability as sources than anything else. When I lived on Bonaire (85% black at the most recent census), it always amused me to hear tourists describe the locals as "African-American" despite the fact that most of them carried Dutch passports. I saw a grand total of two African-Americans during my period there: badly lost and trying to figure out why everyone kept speaking to them in Papiamentu.—Kww(talk) 22:03, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure I understand your first sentence. Wikipedia defines the African-American category as: citizens of the United States of black African ancestry. She was born in the United States Virgin Islands. Her father was an African-American from New York, and she has at least some black African great-grandparents - "free Africans" - she asserts. So while she may be able to claim to be "Caribbean" through her mother's side, that doesn't undo her African ancestry, does it? Xenophrenic (talk) 22:49, 1 June 2014 (UTC)