Toni Braxton was hospitalized after a painful Lups flair up…

From TMZ

Toni Braxton was transported to an L.A. hospital this week after experiencing some painful “flare ups” stemming from her Lupus condition … but the singer tells us she’ll be “totally fine.”

Braxton tells TMZ, “I wanted to say thanks to all my fans for their support, as I have been experiencing some flare ups with my Lupus which has me in the hospital for a few days.”

She adds, “I wanted to clear the record before rumors started, and will totally be fine as I’m blessed to having an amazing family for support.”

Grammy nominated rapper Nicki Minaj has been announced as the first performers during the 54th annual Grammy awards.

Nicki Minaj would join artists like Jason Aldean, Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift as performers during the event, which will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Nicki Minaj’s performance is the first time she’s ever performed live on the Grammy stage.

This year, Nicki is up for four Grammy awards.

The Young Money rapper is nominated for Best New Artist, Best Rap Album for Pink Friday, Album of the Year as a featured artist on Rihanna’s album Loud, and Best Rap Performance for her hit single “Moment 4 Life.”

The Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The show will be broadcast on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m.

Sometimes it takes having children to realize how you have matured as a person, and understand that all childish things must come to an end, because another human being depends totally upon you.  Jay-Z had such the metamorphosis when he recently welcomed his baby girl to the world.  Check out Jigga’s letter to Blue Ivy Carter.

Before I got in the game, made a change, and got rich,

I didn’t think hard about using the word B—-.

I rapped, I flipped it, I sold it, I lived it

now with my daughter in this world

I curse those that give it.

I never realized while on the fast track

that I’d give riddance to the word bitch, to leave her innocence in tact.

No man will degrade her, or call her out her name

the women won’t despise her and call her the same.

I know it’s gonna miss me

cuz we been together like Nike Airs and crisp tees

when we all used to hang out front

singing 99 problems but a lady ain’t one.

Excuse me miss, can I be your mister

cuz I can tell the difference from a little girl and a sister,

She never grew up, her father left her alone

I promise not to talk like we used to

until Kingdom Come.

I’m so focused on your future,

The degradation has passed

I wish you wealth, health, and insight

forever young you may pass.

Blue Ivy Carter, my angel.

Tamar Braxton and her husband Vince Herbert appear on the latest cover of JET Magazine discussing everything from Tamar’s music career, not being a golddigger and Vince’s health isssues.  Read interesting excerpts below:

On Her Music Career:

“I have to do this,” she says. “I wake up in the morning and want to go to the studio, because if I don’t go, ‘her’ is going to be upset,” she says, referencing her unnamed alter ego in the third person. “I don’t want to put it in a category because when you do that you limit yourself,” she says. “It’s just going to be hot music. Great songs that appeal to everybody.”

And Vince Herbert is going to be the head architect of his wife’s music career. “She’s already signed to my label and Interscope,” he says. “You have to take the time to do everything right.”

On Marriage

“My mom and dad are went deceased,” Vince divulges, saying that his mother, a nurse, was killed in a car accident when he was 13. His dad passed away a few years later. “My parents were together for 25 years. I even remember their last anniversary. That’s how much I paid attention. He rented a limousine, made a reservation and they went to this hall in West Orange, NJ. He died of a broken heart. He adored my mom.”

“I love my wife. This girl is so far from being a gold digger. I wouldn’t be with someone like that for nine years,” he says. And Tamar is quick to tag in: “When I met Vince I had my own house. I had my own car. I was independent.”

“We have fun, which is what a relationship is all about,” Vince says. “Tamar is the greatest. Liek, we’d just drive to Disneyland, then go to the movies and fall asleep. Because we are friends and you can’t stress that enough in a relationship,” he says “We have our arguments and disagreements, but that’s life.”

Tamar also says she doesn’t go all diva when it comes to Vince

“He’s my husband, and I don’t talk to him the way I’d talk to a girlfriend,” Tamar shares.

On His Health Issues*:

“It was the first thing we ever had to deal with outside of the normal relationship thing. It went from dinner, to a doctor, to a hospital, to he’s in a coma,” she shares of her experience becoming her husband’s health proxy. “I had to sign a lot of papers. I’m happy that we were friends because when you’re going through ‘what would he do?’ you remember those conversations. At first Doogie Howser was his doctor, and I was like no. I want someone with gray hair.”

“We have a new outlook on life because of what happened,” she says. “Everything before now has been erased.”

Cassie, JoJo, Solange, and V V Brown pop out from the pages of V Magazine‘s annual Music Issue.  The singers were named “fearless females” by the fashion publication, going glam in the colorful close-ups photographed by Mick Rock.  They each spoke out about their upcoming projects.

Cassie on her new sound and image: “In my video we called it ‘giving ’90s supermodel.’ It’s the perfect definition of who I am right now and what I’m going through.  People aren’t going to expect me to come out with what I have.”

JoJo on being a voice for her generation: “I love Britney Spears and Madonna and Lady Gaga. I love pop music, those big pop records, but I still want it to feel like my sound. I hope people feel like, ‘Damn, that’s exactly what I’m going through, that’s what I’m thinking but I wasn’t sure how to put it into words.’  I want to sing what people are thinking and feeling. I want it to be the soundtrack to their lives.”

Solange on her new music: “My references for the record were all Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, not just their typical Janet and Prince stuff, but SOS Band and their b-sides with Chaka Khan. At first the songs were really dark because I had a premonition before the record that I was going to die. I was having panic attacks and wiling out.”

V V Brown on her sophomore album Lollipops and Politics: “My second album has a message: it’s about my generation and things going on in the world.  But I didn’t want it to come across preachy. I love writing upbeat songs with darker undertones.”