Keyshia & Daniel: Family First 1X07
After an embarrassing argument during a photo shoot and a subsequent reconciliation in the previous episode, episode 7, Work It Out, begins on a tender note with Keyshia in bed gently waking and playfully nudging her very sleepy son DJ. Daniel and his cousin watch basketball and chat on the couch in the adjoining room about his goals and how he wants to take advantage of this potential at his young, yet professional basketball old, age of 26. Keyshia joins them with the clear intent, not to watch basketball, but to call her label execs to discuss her new album dropping and the events that she will need to calendar.
Daniel is eager to get back to training and Keyshia relishes the time they are able to spend with each other. He expresses in a side-bar that a part of him would love for Keyshia to stay at home to be a mommy and wife, but he knows they wouldn’t have a happy marriage. So, he joins her in NY for her Essence magazine interview and supports her while she’s on her grind, which in-turn “fuels and ignites his inner hustle”. Keyshia is excited and eager to explain the focus of her new album and her collaboration with a new shoe line during the interview. When the Essence interviewer asked who her closes celebrity friend is, she was stumped and the interviewer had to remind her that her husband Daniel is a celebrity too. Awkward moment…. she tried to clean it up, but the damage was already done; his ego may have been a little bruised.
While in NY, Daniel decided to have a face to face with his agent, Andy Miller, about his goals and all that encompasses his talent and brand as a professional basketball player. Miller talks to him frankly about developing a reputation of having ankle injuries and what role he’s going to be in. He points out that Daniel will have to “put up or shut up” to stay locked into playing for Cleveland; but what he wants is realistic if he chooses to do the work. Daniel chats with Keyshia via phone as he packs to head out to the Cleveland Clinic to take performance tests to gauge his physical aptitude following the potential career altering injury.
While Daniel is away, Keyshia has a meeting with shoe designer, Steve Madden, about marketing her album with the inclusion of their collaboration with the shoe line. She spends time with his team designing a couple pairs of fly heels and is literally like a kid in a candy store. At the design facility she is in her element, connected and very engaged in the creative process. Coming up with the designs and actually developing a shoe line with Steve Madden seems surreal to her. Steve asks about “Boobie” (Daniel’s nickname) and Keyshia gushes about him and how he’s amazing and different from other guys and jokingly adds that she likes that he buys her diamonds.
Meanwhile, Daniel wakes up in Cleveland, struggling with a boat load of pressure that he places on himself to support his family, as he prepares to get his physical abilities tested. After working so hard in rehab to be up to par and re-join his team, he’s definitely got to show up stronger and prove that he’s contract worthy. He works out with an NBA trainer who will determine if he is fit to play again. Daniel struggles during the drills and fails to make shots, but works even harder to push himself. With no back-up plan he knows that he has to get his head in the game and perform in order for things to go his way.
Will Daniel pull through in the clutch? Can he handle not being a provider for his family? Weigh in…
BET, Tuesday 10pm.
