Despite being born to parents Nina Goosby and NFL player Rod Harris Sr, Roderick Jr. found himself in a single parent household raised by his entire family. With a younger brother born with half a lung, Roderick Jr. naturally became the protector of his siblings. When his parents did a short bid in jail, it was that moment, Roderick Jr. decided to get his family out of the hood.

Inspired by Tupac’s song, “Ghost” – Roderick took on the moniker but gave it a different meaning. Motivated by Psalm 124, Ghost stands for “God’s Human Outlaws Striving Together.” Ghost received words of encouragement from Shawty Redd and Scott Storch that kept him focused and driven. With that, he began pursuing his dream.

Now living in Miami, FL, he launched LifeArtMusic Group. The company currently manages various artists including Ghost himself. His latest mixtape, “Nina’s Son,” is now streaming everywhere. “Nina’s Son” is the first installment of the 7 for 7 series of projects to be released by Native Texas artist, leading up to his “Kurrupt City” album set to arrive soon. The mixtape is a creative collection of dope songs, that truly shows the artistry behind Ghost.

This seven track project is a small glimpse of what’s to come from the southern country artist who’s Texas slang has been somewhat removed do to his travels throughout the states. Check it out at the top of the post.

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The post RESPECT. The Tape: Ghost – ‘Nina’s Son’ appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Season 3 of Power found Ghost doing everything he could to sever his ties to the drug world and concentrating his savviness and charm on Truth, seeing it rise to the precipice of becoming one of the worlds top nightclubs. But as Angela escorted him out of his nightclub in handcuffs in the finale, he saw his plan to leave the underworld thwarted again.

“Delayed” is the better term, because viewers can predict that Ghost probably won’t be in jail for long. (And as someone who hasn’t quite atoned for his sins, getting charged for the one he hasn’t committed could provide a radical change of his intentions next season.) Moments after Knox figured out that Sandoval was the leak, Sandoval killed him. It’s obvious that Angela let her emotions get the best of her—she’s still upset over the breakup with Ghost—and let a rather vague discussion with Ghost and a set of fingerprints lead her to falsely conclude that Ghost killed Knox. She’s spent most of the season making sure that her tracks are covered, but what happens now that she’s taken the primary reason she’s had to do that into custody?

Ghost and Tommy finally took out Milan, who went out as quietly as he moved in. As a result, Tommy became the new connect, and unbeknownst to Ghost, kept Milan’s men alive, who’ll be aids in keeping Ghost tethered to the drug business. The underhandedness at which Tommy made this move is no shocker, because he never wanted Ghost to get out in the first place and was sick of his lies. It’s simply another stage in the relationship between the two that’s become frayed as a result of Ghost’s change of heart.

Finally, in a most satisfying return, Jukebox (Anika Noni Rose) rode into New York and convinced Kanan of a way to exact his revenge on Ghost in a manner more frightening than he intended, reminding Kanan who the toughest out of the both of them is. The decision to hold Tariq for ransom mapped out a way for Kanan to hit Ghost in his pocket and his heart in one fell swoop.

In a season that seemed to dedicate itself to asking questions, will season 4 be dedicated solely to answering them, or further delaying Ghost’s quest to put his past behind him?

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It is, perhaps, best to weigh the amount of betrayal and tension in this season of Power against the success of Truth, the nightclub at the center of all the chaos whose name evokes a practice the complete opposite of its owner. Because it’s the key to legitimizing the money pouring in from his drug business, Ghost’s ongoing, successful effort to make Truth the best nightclub in the city is the only victory he can tout as he watches everything else around him burst into flames.

At the beginning of the season, Ghost took steps towards building a strong infrastructure for the club: axing Kantos, taking on  Dre as an apprentice, and hiring a new security detail. And Sunday night, he took care of the pesky owners of the club across the street from Truth (The only “feel good” moment of the evening) returning a distraught Bassett’s gaze to him, possibly solidifying his goal of taking the Truth global. Significant though, is that in the face of Kantos’ bitterness, Dre’s rapidly deteriorating composure, and Truth’s security detail turning out to be the core of the most dangerous drug cartel in the wake of Lobos’ death, the club still stands.

Beneath the surface of Ghost’s intentions with truth is the need to protect his family. He doesn’t want his children’s lives to be fueled by drug money any longer and he wants to keep his reputation intact by leaving the drug world altogether. Maybe it’s Ghost’s determination alone, not his actions, that keeps Truth running and his family safe; when you scrutinize the rubble he’s left behind this season in the name of that determination, what else could be credited with the restraint that Tanya, Tariq, Angela, and Tommy have shown Ghost this season?

Tommy appears to be going all in, expressing to Milan at the end of Sunday’s episode that it’s time to kill Ghost, after Tanya helped him foil Ghost’s plot to take Milan out by killing Ruiz. It wasn’t soley the hit and its consequences that hurt Tommy, it’s that wasn’t shared with him after he all but begged his best friend to stop hiding things from him. After all the punishment taken by the show’s comic-relief since stepping into Ghost’s role as New York’s drug kingpin, it’s not surprising that that could have been the last straw.

And what of Angela, whose doubts about a smooth transition into her future with Ghost has, over three episodes, morphed into a faena  she hopes will conclude with never seeing him again? She got some help after the persistent Knox, who, following a lead on his hunt to discover the leak, saw Sandoval leaving Hugo’s apartment. Who knows, however, with Knox’s ill-feelings towards Angela and sharp focus on Ghost, whether he’ll think the boss is the leak or if he was just doing some undercover work?

One thing Power has done well in it’s short history is allow viewers to sympathize with characters who, in reality, wouldn’t be given the time of day and cringe when characters we do usually inquire about the time take up screen time. As sharp and disturbing as Knox has become, he still can’t hold a candle to Jukebox and Candie, who had performances so powerful that they only needed a third of the season to make us forget that Ghost gave Kanan those scars. Accenting that are the drastic shifts in emotion experienced over the course of two scenes for one character, forcing the audience in choice circumstances to question where it’s alliances are—there was the hope that nothing would happen to Ruiz as Tommy frisked him in the warehouse, but no one could wait for Tommy to take care of him as he drove him home.

One only wonders what Ruiz was thinking when Tommy told him “Ghost is doing this to you,” something everyone could agree on. Ghost made Tommy kill Holly; he’s making Angela jeopardize her career; he’s causing Tanya and Tommy’s collusion against him; and he’s pushed his son into Kanan’s company. The cunning and meticulous Ghost may turn the law’s gaze away from him and Truth in next week’s season finale, but with those closest to him emotionally spent, his efforts to protect his future could be all for naught.

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Ghost and Tommy reunite after a series of wild events during Sunday night’s episode

After a couple of sedate, expository episodes that catalogued the return of Kanan, exhibit a frantic Holly, and had Ghost flirt with the inevitable, Sunday night’s episode saw Ghost and Tommy reunite in a charged, increasingly unhinging atmosphere.

Kanan’s return wasn’t a matter of when, but how. So when he woke up, “fried and burnt like a pork rind,” (albeit with perfect hair, which is baffling) in the home of his beautiful, powerful cousin Jukebox, there was a bit of calm in knowing that he wouldn’t be hurting anyone for a while. With getting back in action and Ghost on his mind, he built his strength back by engaging in shenanigans with his cousin’s girl, Candie, and robbing a jewelry store. After Jukebox advises he go about his new goals with trepidation, he returned to his stomping grounds in episode five holding Dre’s daughter in a scene where if you weren’t holding your breath, you’re probably without a sense of empathy.

This was an episode in which everyone’s actions had immediate consequences. Angela, hopefully, finally, realized that if she really wants Ghost out of the drug world for good, she’ll have to file away her integrity as a federal prosecutor a moment at a time. This fragment came in the form of Ruiz, dug up by Knox, who was set to give up the chain of command of the New York drug cartel—an opportunity for Knox to have Ghost’s identity revealed. Angela found an opportunity to speak to Ruiz beforehand, asking him to think about why he, of all the drug lords, was still alive; in sacrificing her integrity, she appealed to his, telling him that he’s still a “Soldado” and that he should respect a man who saved his life.

But all this would’ve been for naught, as the chaos that has been Tommy and Holly’s relationship this season reached its boiling point. After losing her dog and discovering that she was pregnant, Holly set off on a worry-laden descent that, moment by moment, got worse. And when her emotionally inflected urges for Tommy to kill Ghost wouldn’t work, a bullet in his arm sent her sprinting for the Jamaicans, who she tapped to take Ghost out once and for all.

Ghost was already having an odd day. What was to be time dedicated to Tariq aimed to stabilize the rift between them both, became an evening during which Ghost, in two separate waves, saw the end of his life. The first wave put him on edge, for learning about Ruiz’s return not only threatens his frayed relationship with Angela, but puts his entire family at risk. And as Ghost stared at the unknowing Tariq as four men pointed guns at the kingpin, just moments after riffing about their favorite rappers—the rift stabilized, the bond between father and son healing—he was reminded, for the second time in one day, at a higher degree, the dangers of not tying up loose ends, of the risks of Lobos still being alive, of being Ghost.

Parallel with this reminder was Tommy realizing how much he loves Ghost. When Holly told Tommy that she ordered a hit on Ghost, the weight he’d been struggling to hold up since the beginning of the season had crashed down on him with the news that his best friend was probably dead. Tommy got more violent each passing moment, as Ghost felt he was spending his final moments with his son. Time was paused until Ghost’s new security detail took out the hit men, and in a bout of rage intensified by Holly’s reassuring claims that she did what had to be done, Tommy strangled her, learning that life was gone as she dropped to the floor, unresponsive to his hopes she was kidding.

As finite as these events were, consequences still linger in the background: does Dre sound the alarm on Kanan now that he’s back? What will Knox’s next move be now that Angela thwarted his strongest attempt to nab Ghost? And with Holly’s death an impetus for Ghost and Tommy to reunite, how do they move forward with their plan to take out Lobos?

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Ghost returned to form in “It’s Never Over” last night on Power

Ghost returned to form as love, mixed with betrayal, confusion, and revenge, and what should be done in the name of it, set the tone of last night’s episode of Power. There’s an overwhelming tension in the air, suggesting an impending explosion, and everyone is flirting with it, actively postponing personal disaster, in the form of their professional lives or a complete surrender to their personal demons.

Ghost, balancing a fractured family and dealing with competition in the nightclub scene, takes his first steps to completely leave the drug business. Because he cannot go to Angela for details about Lobos, knowing that those inquiries would jeopardize his claim to her of being “out,” Ghost taps his attorney, Joe Proctor, to confirm that Lobos survived the hit in prison, and discovers the extreme measures the DA’s office has taken to prosecute him. Ghost ends up putting his confidence in Proctor, albeit with a grain of salt, as the look on his face betrays him, when he’s presented with a choice to protect his girl or himself. The three-headed dragon that Ghost is probably wants to do both, and his actions reflect that, easing back into his underworld persona without hesitation.

There is also Ghost’s dealing with Dre, who’s getting used to playing the same note, reminding him—as if he needs it—of the adrenaline of the drug business. Although he reinforces the importance of being legitimate and what his new responsibility is, often concluding a handful of the same exchanges with get-back-to-word, or put-on-your-tie, Ghost doesn’t seem to know what he wants to do with Dre. But after Truth loses a famous DJ to a couple nightclub owners, sparking Dre’s aggressiveness, a sliver of hope at taming him gleams, with the decision to direct his restlessness into a planning a calculated retaliation.

Tommy would rather have his restlessness channeled into prosperity, but is instead struggling to run the drug empire. He buckles after failing to kill Ghost, understanding that his reason for stopping wouldn’t prevent Lobos from coming after him, and overdoes it with the coke, pummeling one of his guys for cracking an innocent joke.

Sandoval, who in season two was one of the most intimidating characters, finds his steely resolve diminishing by the second, finding every moment a crucial one to protect Lobos and save his career. Yet, in this episode he realizes that he cannot do both; in the season premiere, he asserted that his connection with Lobos would be over after his job was completed, only to see that slapped down in the face of his boss’ jubilation of owning a district attorney, and his plea for help to taking care of a loose end results in him learning that he is Lobos’ “prisoner.”

Trying to define what her integrity as a federal prosecutor means after choosing to be with Ghost, Angela met his children, who spent a night at her place. The nervous encounter illustrated one aspect of what a life with Ghost features and how she’d handle it. Angela awkwardly tried to connect with the kids, building bridges with their interests and perspectives—video games with his son and being a sister with his oldest daughter. Her job will only get more complicated, as her desire to be a strong, caring, female figure in their lives conflicts with their mother, Tasha—a strong, caring, woman.

Tasha articulates her growing frustration with Ghost and his decision to be clean through visits to LaKeisha, Angela, and Tommy. She shudders at the thought of working at the hair salon with LaKeisha, finds room in a silent exchange to take a shot at Angela’s apartment, and finally says, out loud, that she’s suffering at the behest of Ghost’s desires in a meeting with Tommy. Uneasy in the atmosphere of an empty home and meditating on the pain that her children are with the woman her ex-husband left her for as she gazes into a blazing fire—her frustration manifest—she resolves to help Tommy and Holly take care of Ghost.

Love prevented Angela from taking Ghost down, but her desires still aren’t clear following meeting his kids. Tasha has to consider how deep her love is for her kids in the wake of colluding against Ghost with Holly and Tommy. And Ghost’s love for his family and Angela gets increasingly compromised in his efforts to protect them. As this season’s issues sharpen, so will their consequences.

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The post Love, Betrayal, and Revenge Set Tone as Ghost Returns to Form appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Omari Hardwick and Lela Loren in Season 3 Premiere of Power

With honesty on the fritz and tension simmering, Omari Hardwick reprises his role as Ghost, who struggles to sever himself from the drug world in the long-awaited premiere of the third season of Power on Starz.

In spite of pleas to call him “James,” and attempts to cement his new identity as a nightclub owner, Ghost finds himself often looking over his shoulder and realizing that his work as a drug kingpin isn’t quite done, spoiling his continual attempts to start fresh with his family, Angela, and his expanding nightclub business. The pressure from all sides that he fought off in the final episodes of last season intensify in Tasha, who presses Ghost with concerns about their children’s future and Shawn’s final moments, Dre’s impatience regarding lining his pockets, and Angela, ever looking to her future with Ghost, ceaselessly on edge, fighting to validate his legitimacy, and dealing with her evolving life as a federal prosecutor.

Angela holds her breath at every corner she turns with Ghost, scrutinizing his every move—she carries a gun in her clutch in the opening sequence, questions him over Chinese about a frantic Julio approaching him at Truth, and warns him not to finish Lobos off. Yet her worries don’t end at home, because she’s keeping an eye out for Greg, further disturbed and hell-bent on taking both her and James down after she sabotaged his career.

Tommy, still furious at his ex-boss’ new path and itching to get back on the streets, runs into the complications of being at the top. His hot-headed and comical encounters with the new batch of distributors helps build his reputation, but he’s reminded that his new role as head of the organization won’t come easy, as he finds his and Holly’s dog dead in their kitchen; he seems surprised after each of Lobos’ reminders for him to take care of Ghost—a pause after a phone call, getting the hint at the sight of his dog—and, perhaps, seems to realize part of why Ghost wanted out in the first place.

What Ghost hoped would remain an impenetrable wall quickly crumbled, not just from his perspective—discovering that Lobos survived the hit—but from mistakes he’s failed to realize he’s made, beginning with axing Santos, who tried to warn him of Greg’s prodding beforehand, and making new enemies, following his dismissal of Julio and the shady Dre, Ghost’s new right-hand man.

After realizing that he’ll have to become “Ghost” again in reaching out to Tommy, he’s plunged back into chaos; but Ghost is clever, and he’s gotten out of chaotic situations before, only, with his promises to Angela and his children, and his commitment to be legitimate on the line, how far will he go to protect his future?

I you have lingering questions about the season 3 premiere make sure to follow Power on Twitter. Rotimi will be answering questions today:

You’ve got questions about the #PowerPremiere. Get answers from @Rotimi in a live Twitter Q&A tomorrow at 1PM ET. pic.twitter.com/kB8w3eS7cI

— Power (@Power_STARZ) July 18, 2016

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If the ending of Season 2’s Power left you gasping for more, well you won’t have to gasp for breath any longer as Season 3 of Power– showcased on Starz– will be knocking at a door near you on July 17th. And it looks like Ghost (Omari Hardwick) will have to now look over his back as his enemies seem to be increasing by the minute.

According to Vibe, Power has now been moved to Sunday nights; something that will definitely be a conversation piece during the lunch break at work. In the new trailer, Ghost is seen stating that “He wants to get out of the game” but by watching the trailer, it doesn’t look like it will be that easy of a task to do as Ghost must choose between which woman he wants to actually put it down with and his career.

Fans will also see how Kanon’s hate and vengeance for Ghost increases as well. Kanon states, “I’m going to put a bullet in his head” and it looks like he’ll be going through great lengths to accomplish that task. Fans can expect the same edge of your seat drama that has escalated in seasons 1 and 2. But this season looks like it’s going to be EXPLOSIVE! With even more guns with silencers, cheating and more back stabbing. Ghost’s love interests– Tasha St. Patrick (Naturi Naughton) & Angela Valdes (Lela Loren)– may finally face off with one another. It’s definitely a season that looks like it’s packed with decisions, love, betrayal, lust, lies & power!

So get your DVR, HULU & popcorn ready because this season of Power is coming back and is guaranteed to make you do a double-take of “What Just Happened?” & “Oh, No he didn’t” You’ll surely want to record and rewind.

Check out the trailer and see for yourself!

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