Last night in New York City, Smirnoff Vodka brought their live television experience with VH1 to life. Held at the famous Marquee night club, Smirnoff’s “Master of The Mix” Season 3 DJ experience was well underway, and KarenCivil.com got some great access to the up close and personal live DJ jam sessions. Accompanied by a unique open bar, cocktails with the witty names “Vinyl Collection”, “BackSpin” and more, all attendees got the opportunity to  preview Master of the Mix season 3, premiering April 1 on VH1. Guests that were in attendance, hitting the red carpet in complete style, were Kid Capri, Ben Madahi, VH1′s Black Ink Crew, Charlotte Ronson, Mia Moretti, Amanda Seales..even a very unexpected Sway Calloway stopped by for a DJ booth appearance  Check out some photos from the live event after the jump!

If you haven’t heard of the name Erica Mena from the new season of Vh1 “Love & Hip Hop” then well.. we actually don’t blame you. The Latina star of the show, who’s role is to be in a relationship with manager Rich Dollaz whilst trying to jump start a music career has taken a liking to the cameras and does not pass up an opportunity to show off how “ratchet” she can get. If you tune in, you’ll either see Erica in another cast members face  like singer Olivia about the failure of their career, or you’ll see her fighting with her boyfriend/manager Rich Dollaz and fighting at events. Well Erica has seemed to really be upsetting women across the country with her bad representation of Latina single mothers, and Lady Blogga over at StupidDope.com aired out her opinion in this “Open Letter To Erica Mena”. Read the letter in its entirety after the jump, and let us know what you think about the situation.

The beautiful soul singer Alica Keys gets her chance to share her inspiring story on the VH1 series “Storytellers”. In light of her new album, Keys talks positivity, how she decided that there was something better for her and how she does feel a slight sense of wholeness. But what interview would be complete if we didn’t get ALL of the talent out of Alica. She sits and connects with her roots of the piano to perform “Noone” & “Girl On Fire”. Check out Alicia inspire after the jump…

VH1 Television Network looks to the King of the South, Rapper T.I (Tip Harris) for the next series of “Behind The Music”. T.I shares with us all of the trials & struggles on his path to make it as rap artist, family struggles, knowing right from wrong and gives us some very personal details on his life before rap. T.I has always been an open book for his fans to read, so this comes as no surprise. Check out the sneak peak after the jump…

New reports have come in that VH1‘s very popular Basketball Wives LA will be down 4 members, leaving only 2 after firing Gloria Govan, Laura Govan, Malaysia Pargo, and Brooke Bailey. Hit the jump to see where things went wrong.

“Due to the unfortunate events over the past weekend and the seriousness of the allegations, VH1 is pulling the series ‘Ev & Ocho’ from its schedule and has no current plans of airing it,” a network spokesperson tells Us Weekly.” The highly anticipated reality show would have showcased Chad Johnson’s marriage to Basketball Wives star Evelyn Lozada, but VH1 is taking it off its fall lineup, most likely indefinitely. Not only does Ocho get dropped from the Miami Dolphins, but now their show is premeditatedly canceled too. All bad. Hopefully the marriage works out for him considering it’s supposed to be “till death do us part”.

If you are anyway familiar with actress Tami Roman, one of the stars of VH1′s hit reality show ‘Basketball Wives,” you would know that Tami is quick to say whatever she feels and however she feels like saying it. Her character in Basketball Wives is most known for her realness, being outspoken and involving herself in multiple controversial altercations on the show.

On last week’s episode of Basketball Wives, viewers were shocked to learn that Tami had been the victim of sexual assault twice, as well as held up at gunpoint and physically abused which has become the source of her built up anger over the years. In a 4-hour counseling session, which she attended on the show to get to the root of her anger, she revealed:

‘As a kid growing up, I was raped twice. My mom didn’t know about it. That’s an issue for me. I’ve been held up at gunpoint, someone threatening to blow my brains out, torturing me for four days. People have beat me up. People who I thought loved me. That’s why I’m real big on my personal space because I’ve been violated so much by people who that I thought cared about me.

After the episode was released, Tami was able to see the interview and stated, “Vh1 treated it fairly and with respect.” As a result, right after that episode aired Necole Bitchie.com had a chance to interview Tami as she revealed how her past assaults have played a part in the way she has reacted towards her Basketball Wives castmates and towards David during her stint on Real World, when he tried to pull the blankets off of her body in the video below the interview.

Deciding to share a sexual assault is a big thing. What was the process?

That decision was made over the summer. I sat down with my family and talked about some of the incidents that happened in the past. I though it would be valuable to start dealing with it. I looked at season 2 and realized I had that altercation with Meeka because I have issues with someone violating my personal space. And that comes from the violence in my past. It makes me overly defensive. Literally I wake up every single day with somebody saying something hateful to me. That’s a hard burden to have to deal with. I’m just walking around like ‘don’t f-ck with me’. And in certain situations that’s not the proper attitude to have. So I knew I needed to get help to learn how to recover and move on.

Let’s go back to the infamous situation on Real World between you and David. Do you think perhaps the sexual assaults in your past played a part in you reacting the way you did to that incident?

Well first of all let me be clear, I never said David tried to rape me. But my reaction to that situation – you’ve exposed me, I felt violated – That was one of those moments where it happened two people can be in the same moment and not feel the same way. So I believe that yes, my past had a lot to do with it.

How did your family react to your decision to share something so personal with the world?

Ultimately they’re very supportive. They want me to heal. We try to talk about anything and love on each other as much as possible. They were a little apprehensive because they didn’t know how people would receive that information coming from me. People see me all the time and think I’m the same way, so I thought that maybe if they understand why I’m this way, they can take this journey with me.

Having now watched the episode, how do you feel about your decision?

Vh1 treated it fairly and with respect. It was a four-hour therapy session. People have been very responsive and supportive. What I wanted to do was accomplished. I wanted to let others out there know, “You’re not the only one.” I want to use my life as a testimony. I’ve been homeless, on food stamps, I’ve always been very open. I’ve dealt with Bulemia, weight issues…I’ve been through a lot and this is just one more thing.

So how are you now? Are you still seeking therapy?

I’m still in therapy. I go through follow-up sessions with my therapist. The whole point was to get to the bottom of my anger issues. I don’t like people all the time. With time I’m learning how to deal with these girls on the show. People will see me handle things in upcoming episodes.

Erica Mena of VH1′s Love & Hip-Hop is a name that has become popular in only a matter of a few days. If you watch the television show, you would have seen why as the Bronx, NY native is quite a physical force to reakon with. A couple of days ago Mena sat down with Cherry Martinez of Power 105.1 and described that she was meeting with a co-star of the show, Yandy, to discuss music opportunities. She was serious. Above is an exclusive snippet to her new and debut song titled Fantasy, which she will play for Rich Dollaz on next week’s episode (this coming Monday). We’re asking you, is this track HOT or NOT?