PHOTOS

: Words By Amber Mckynzie La La Anthony, formerly La La Vazquez, has done it all. She’s gone from entertaining the airwaves of Atlanta alongside Ludacris, who used to go by the name Chris Lova Lova, to walking down the aisle at Cipriani in Midtown New York, and saying “I Do” to her longtime hubby, Carmelo Anthony. During the years between her DJ days and her M-R-S title, the NBA’s first lady was a staple to MTV’s impromptu shows and host of every VH1 dating show reunion. And somehow, the New York native still found time to pursue an acting career. Over the past ten years, La La has acquired more than 25 film, sitcom and reality television appearances and acting roles, started her own cosmetics line—Motives for La La—started a family and is currently in pursuit of a more serious acting career. In all, the the caramel skin Latina has obtained a net worth of $9 million over the years for her hustle mentality, and has no problem going after more. From married life to motives, Black Enterprise explores La La Anthony’s full court life—from L.A. to New York.

: The VJ Days After working as an on-air radio personality in Washington D.C. and Atlanta, GA for a few years, La La pursued a Los Angeles career with KKBT 100.3 FM (The Beat). She took on the station’s mid-day slot, and quickly worked her way to the evening show with Eric Cubiche. Known as The B-Side, the show took off, making La La <a href="http://www.mtv.com/onair/meet_the_vjs/bios/index.jhtml?vj=La%20La" target="_blank">“the highest-rated urban female radio personality in the Los Angeles market.”</a> But while the Brooklyn-bred radio host was building quite the name for herself on the airwaves, her heart lived in television. <a href="http://www.mtv.com/onair/meet_the_vjs/vjs.jhtml?vj=La%20La" target="_blank">“I moved on to Los Angeles to do radio at the same station Steve Harvey works at,”</a> she says on her MTV bio. “I did really well out there and one day I went on an MTV audition. I didn't get a call back until one year later. I started auditioning again a thousand times and finally I was given the JOB! I moved to New York and got it popping!” In 2002, the now basketball wife joined the lineup of MTV VJs, hosting a slew of shows and one-offs including TRL, MTV2 Hip-Hop, Direct Effect, Fashionably Loud, MTV Spring Break and more. After making her way to the set of the small screen, the Nuyorican beauty showed off her love for hip-hop working with artists across the board including Nelly (“Hot in Herre,” 2002), Cam’ron (“Oh Boy,” 2002) and Ray J (“Formal Invite,” 2001). Shortly after, La La commenced her acting career.

: Film, Television & VH1 Soon after claiming her spot on MTV, La La went after a career in film, starting with Vivica Fox’s Two Can Play That Game in 2001. Playing the role of Bobby the DJ, in what served as Vivica and her friends’ hang out spot, a 22-year-old La La started chasing her dream. One year later, the budding actress took on the role of Pam Jackson in Urban Massacre, a hip-hop thriller about a murderous clown. In 2004, La La played herself in the dance crew movie, You Got Served. That same year, the 33-year-old TV personality made her sitcom debut on UPN’s (now the CW) former show, One on One. But as La La was acquiring a number of acting roles and film and television appearances, it wasn’t until 2006 that she became a staple in primetime television. After her VJ days with MTV, La La acted as the reunion host for VH1's first dating show, Flavor of Love. The following year she returned to VH1 as the reunion host to the Flavor of Love’s spin-off show, Charm School. Since 2007, La La has hosted three additional <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1043164/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2" target="_blank">VH1 reunion shows</a>, and starred in two of her own reality shows, La La’s Full Court Wedding (2010) followed by its spin-off, La La’s Full Court Life (2011). While building her reality television career, the New York native continued to build her TV and film career appearing in titles such as CBS’ CSI: NY, BET’s Let’s Stay Together and her most recent film, Think Like A Man (2012). La La is currently in post-production for two films slated to come out later this year: 1982 and Baggage Claim.

: Married Life Although La La was busy making a name for herself on the big screen, she still found time to find the perfect man to give her his last name. <a href="http://blog.vh1.com/nggallery/post/la-la-vasquez-through-the-years-from-trl-to-her-full-court-life-photos/image/49338" target="_blank">On December 25, 2004</a>, former Denver Nuggets star, Carmelo Anthony <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1956414" target="_blank">proposed to the MTV personality</a> with a nine-carat diamond ring. While it took what seems like a decade to set a date, the couple finally tied the knot Saturday, July 11, 2010 at Manhattan’s Cipriani restaurant. <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2010/07/carmelo-anthony-lala-vazquez-wedding-married.html" target="_blank">La La hit Twitter</a> first thing the next morning to let her friends, family and fans know just how great she was feeling. "Best night of my entire life. Thank u to all my family and friends who shared tonight with me. I love u. I'm on cloud 9 right now … " The now first lady of the NBA was certainly bringing in her own pay checks before she became Mrs. Anthony, but after saying those two precious words, “I do,” La La added an additional $60 million to her name, <a href="http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-athletes/nba/carmelo-anthony-net-worth/" target="_blank">Carmelo’s current net worth</a>. Melo is currently bringing in $18.5 million in annual salary from the New York Knicks; a contract that rakes in $80 million over the next five years.

: Motives for La La La La Anthony teamed up Motives Cosmetics at the top of 2012 to release her own make-up line called Motives for La La. The green-eyed beauty made <a href="http://www.bet.com/news/fashion-and-beauty/2012/04/la-la-anthony-readies-new-makeup-collection.html" target="_blank">announced the line via Twitter</a>, "Guess what’s coming in 2012? —–>*sneak peak…giggles*," which included an image of a few products. In a <a href="http://www.glamour.com/beauty/blogs/girls-in-the-beauty-department/2012/02/lala-vasquez-to-launch-makeup.html" target="_blank">Glamour feature</a> on the cosmetics brand, La La said, “Every girl always tries to find that perfect color or shade that suits their personality, and now she can do it easily and affordably.” The brand officially launched February 2 of last year at the Market World Conference in Miami. The make-up line contains <a href="http://motives.marketamerica.com/index.cfm?action=shopping.csGroupListing&groupID=63_CS_USA" target="_blank">products</a> ranging between $10 and $30, and uses the motto, find your perfect blend with Motives for La La.