Make a Bet on B.E.T

This past Sunday the BET Awards premiered a live show on TV with the celebration of their 10 year anniversary as the theme. Now personally I love award shows…there is something about the fact that there is only a handful of amount of times that a large collection of stars and fame and celebrity can gather for a unified reason. In my most naïve state of mind, I like to believe that the one unified reason is because they all share a passion and love for the business they all “worked” so hard to become apart of. Despite it being singing, or dancing, or acting, or professional athleticism. I also like to believe that they [celebrities] like to come together because at one point they have all met and worked with each other and still treat one another as if they were fans of the person standing next to them. Something about that is inspiring for me. And well this year, BET thankfully didn’t do anything to ruin that feeling for me, so kudos to them for actually making a successful show.

In the showcase they pulled off:

Top Performances
• Chris Brown’s MJ Tribute: which was definitely moving and heartfelt. Hands down it shares the number #1 spot for best performance of the night. Considering how long it’s been since he’s even been to an award show, let alone performed at one, as a result of the Rihanna incident. (BET last year would not LET him come and pay tribute to the falling of MJ—and now…) Him being on stage like this, tear-ridden and all, served as his final public testimony of his wrongs, he’s sorry damnit! Miss you, Chris. Definitely miss you MJ.
• Kanye opened with Power: statement piece for sure. He stood on top of a pseudo mountain on that stage with no shirt and the biggest “di-a-mond encrusted piece” he possibly owns and rocked it out. He just wanted all those mo-fo’s and nay-sayers out there to know…he has arrived.
• B.o.B w/ Keyshia Cole and Eminem: perfect announcement because the world needs to see more of B.o.B and Keyshia needs to come back. Them performing “Airplanes pt. 2” was great becuzzz Eminem spit his verse surprisingly out of nowhere and then carried it into a “Not Afraid” performance. Wonderful.
• Prince tribute: Janelle Monae (who was embodying the spirit of both Prince and James Brown tore up that stage with her crazy footwork), Esperanza Spalding (played the hell out of the Jazz bass guitar), Alicia Keys (pregnant and on top of an effin piano—ok Prince’s look at Swizz was priceless), Patti LaBelle KILLED it (kicked her shoes off, and Prince caught one). The other performance that shares the #1 spot. Without a doubt.

Good Moments
• Monica performed her latest hit “Everything To Me” as a reunion for Deniece Williams, I mean Monica sampled her song to the T, it was the right thing to do.
• El DeBarge performed, he’s making a comeback.
• Teddy Pendergrass memorial tribute was nicely done by Tyrese, he will be missed.

Deserved Awards
• Trey Songz, Drake, Nicki Minaj: I’ll only say this once, they deserve the recognition for being absolutely all in your face for the last year…why not get an award for it.

Mentionable
• Alicia Keys performed: at the time, her even performing pregnant was a feat in itself, we had no idea what was to come a little later during the Prince tribute.
• Queen Latifah hosting: did a good job, had a lot of character skits involving Cleo from Set It Off.
• Drake performed.
• Trey Songz’ miniature tribute to Prince…wasn’t too bad.
• Finale performance: “My Chick Bad” and “Winner”, Ludacris and DJ Khaled etc…everybody and they mama, once again Diddy and Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj graced the stage for the umpteenth time, T-Pain runnin around aimless, Busta Rhymes surprise. Good ending.

WTF
• Diddy-Dirty Money: yea you maybe supporting Waka Flocka, but that coulda been left at home. And are you tryin to make Rick Ross your new oversized on-stage bff? He had everybody from the audience performing for him, not with him. SMH.
• Jada Pinkett-Smith: wardrobe mistake, can’t be a malfunction if it was intentional. She looked like she forgot that she wasn’t wearing pants. But I guess if you look that good after some kids, why not?

Good show, though.

It's Cool To Be An OutKast

*ahem, ahem, cough, cough*. It’s time to once again recognize greatness. Please prepare yourself to travel through The Love Below and Speakerboxx companionship.

From the trenches of Atlanta, Georgia came two intrinsic individuals with contrasting personalities but a common capacity to grant us a world with their musical ingenuity: André 3000 and Big Boi—together as a duo known as OutKast. It’s official this rap duo is one of the greatest to appear in the world of music and have made enormous strides in proving their rightful place amongst others at the top. The album that they are most well known for would be Speakerboxx/The Love Below album because it gathered Grammy awards and broke records that hadn’t been done since Hill’s Miseducation. But this is merely a statistic, I want to expose as many layers as I possibly can, without over analyzing and ruining the simple joy of just witnessing their mutual amazingness. {click the link}

First we must distinguish in their many albums (in my opinion are just as worthy of a lengthy conversation) these two share together a common bond to appease an audience. They are such polar opposites, and yet are similarly inspired to give us the truth on life how they see it. Big Boi: your “typical” homie, big man equals big spirit…in his case it would be all in his swag {for lack of better terms}. From his pimped-out persona to his smooth wording of the harsh world, you have no other choice but to be intrigued. And if you’re easily impressed by something abnormal—then André’s your man. Entirely strange, but completely sure of himself, he makes perfect sense as the antithesis to Big Boi. Though André still manages to remind you he’s a man of his own accord and nothing less.

Now it’s been a long 7 years since that bomb album dropped, but I still hear every beat and every lyrical mind-twister as if I were 15 and bumpin it in my brand new nano iPod all over again. As much as I love them both individually, I have to say that André killed it that year. He proved that rap and hip-hop could be so much more by openly merging them with jazz and futuristic embellishments. Not to discredit Big Boi, who definitely still had some bangers—together that album was double the pleasure. Sure! releasing a double disc album had been done before, but who ever conjured the idea the way they did? [To quickly side-track: think long and hard about their illustrious careers. HOW? I ask you, how did they imagine the plot that is Idlewild?! I mean that film was wonderful. Did anyone realize that it came strictly from the premise of Speakerboxx/The Love Below combination? Go back and relive the film, listen carefully to the song choices and the soundtrack and understand that that entire project was meticulously thought out and carried through TWO different vessels: 1) a double-disk album with 2 separate artists and 2) a friggin hip-hop musical movie! They told the story of love and romance and the struggles of the hustle in a time that doesn’t exist anymore, but still has plenty of remnants. Hooooowww?]. As I was saying, in which I hope I’m saying anything at all and not rambling, but once again I want to show the level of outstanding ability that dwells in today’s music and genres. This duo is a prime example of wonder and skill, and we’re allowed only so much through them because the manipulation of the industry. These two men deserve the prestige of fame, but thankfully are humble enough to not be tampered by the weight of celebrity. Simply genius.

Double Takes

I think we all know that history repeats itself. It’s the sign of civilization trying to find a successful formula for life and yet contradictory, it’s the sign of progression too. Well repetition could serve as a form of flattery, considering that someone or something is attempting to be a duplicate. The reason for copying is because the first one was such a great production, it needed to be done again. In music and in film this is a major component. In our world where the media dictates, damn near everything, the public is easily moved by what has been done already. Therefore it only makes sense that replicas and remakes and remixes are becoming more and more prominent. In music some of this generation’s greatest successes have been those that found innovative ways to bring back the old and make it new again {oxymoron}. Though there are plenty that unfortunately don’t know how to tune into that special ability to know the origins of true music and then be able to not butcher it in their own tracks. There’s an art to sampling and I can say that probably because I come from the generation where that’s what the majority of the “artists of now” do. I mean I can argue with my parents til the point is drilled into the ground about what constitutes a good artist. They would believe that those like Kanye lack what it takes to make original music and have to reiterate to the world the music that was already dubbed great. And though I don’t discredit their stance, there is still the strong belief that in order to even take a classic song like Mike Jackson’s “PYT” and turn it into “Good Life” takes immense musical capability. There are so many things he probably could have done wrong to ruin that joint, and yet he didn’t and continues to do so with many other hits. And don’t get me wrong, not every producer and songwriter that samples is automatically a musical genius. There are some that didn’t get the magic touch and don’t know how to be inspired by an original for their own re-creation (they’re the ones where the music or the sound or the lyrics have seemingly not changed—and basically didn’t do the song justice at all…)

On a side note, I would like to pay tribute to one of the greats that’s no longer with us (we think)…Tupac. It’s his birthday today and he is a great example of how good—excuse me, GREAT, artists were able to appropriately make re-creations and eventual classics all over again.
Tupac’s Sample Success & My Personal Fav’s (of course)
- Shed So Many Tears*: Stevie Wonder’s That Girl
- I Get Around
- Keep Your Head Up*: Zapp & Roger’s Be Alright and The Five Stairsteps’ Oooh Child
- Can’t See Me
- I Aint Mad At Cha*: Blackstreet’s If You Take You Love Away
- Do For Love*: Bobby Caldwell’s What You Won't Do for Love
- Thug Mansion
- How Do You Want It*: Quincy Jones’ Body Heat
- California Love

Other All-Time Great “Original Gangstas” and “Double Takes”
- Cruisin’: Smokey Robinson (OG), D’Angleo (DT)
- Killing Me Softly: Roberta Flack (OG), The Fugees (DT)
- Something: The Beatles (OG), Musiq Soulchild (DT)
- Just The Two Of Us: Bill Withers (OG), Will Smith (DT)
- You’re All I Need To Get By: Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (OG), Method Man & Mary J. Blige (DT)

- I Can't Stand the Rain: Nina Peebles (OG), Missy Elliott (DT)

- Pink & Blue: Andre 3000 (OG), Whenever: KiD CuDi (DT)

- I’m Coming Out: Diana Ross (OG), Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems: Biggie (DT)
- Love T.K.O.: Teddy Pendergrass (OG), Back In The Days: Ahmad (DT)
- Groove With You: Isley Brothers (OG), Beauty In The Dark: Mos Def (DT)
- Moments of Love: Art of Noise (OG), Freaks: Play N’ Skills (DT) & One For Me: Lloyd (DT)
- Call Me: Aretha Franklin (OG), Selfish: Slum Village (DT)

Finally, I just witnessed another eye-catching double take in the remake of The Karate Kid. The irony in itself is that the movie alone is a duplication of something original that graced our presence in 80s to the early 90s, and now the young star to embody such a character is the live version of life reincarnate through the famous Smith family. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s youngest son has been inducted into my hall of favs. Little Jaden Smith is the new karate kid and also the new Will Smith all over again…it’s like “Will, now we know what you looked like as a child…literally”. The way his lip curls, his comedic timing, his swagged out strut and to the cocky smirk on his 12 year old face—he IS Will once more. Congratulations Smiths, you all have figured the recipe for staying relevant and fresh even after age and time have challenged you into staying away from the limelight. There must not be anything wrong with duplicity. (And I wanna add that Jackie Chan did a great job, for once his character was not treated in the stereotypical sense and was truly convincing in his role). I give this movie: 4 stars out of 5. {click the link}

Summer Forecast

My forecast for the summer:
Yeeeezzzzyyyyy! He’s baaaaaaackk! *Power has been dropped as a not so silent sample of what’s to come and I (in addition to a largely excited population) am ready. I’m personally so impatient that I feel like I could predict that this upcoming album is going to be a heavy marriage of Late Registration and 808s. Just based of this one single, I can immediately hear the same beats that resemble Late Registration’s “Crack Music”…but then his flow starts and though it’s lacking the autotune, his style IS 808s. In this one song all by itself, if you listen carefully, he’s explaining the justifications for his recent actions. And if you take an even closer listen, you’d notice that there is no apology given, just reasoning. Love it. He reprimand’s the media for jumping on him about who he is. And like I said all along, Kanye was hurt—and everybody has their way of expressing their pain. Imagine being a famed starlet with eyes always on you and the most devastating thing happens to you (idk, like losing your mom) and you have nowhere to expel those feelings privately. So what do you do? You interrupt undeserving acceptance speeches and show up visibly drunk on the Red Carpet. Oh, k. Well that’s probably not what a non-celeb would do, but my point is: he was entitled to his emotions. And now he’s back and he’s gonna tell us all exactly how he feels right now.

Drizzy Drake as everybody (except me) likes to refer him as, finally let go of that album of his. It only took forever, but at least it’s here, and this one is official. Guys, that first “album” was called a mixtape. And a mixtape means a compilation of original lyrics over usually already released or remixed music, and/or basically an unsigned artist dropping their own work without any connections to a record label…ladies and gentlemen that’s So Far Gone. [we’ll discuss mixtapes and the premise of sampling at a later date]. Anyway, now we have Thank Me Later. All I can say is that I’m thanking him for not effin up and releasing something that would have demonstrated how premature he is in this game. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the mixtape—a lot. But something happened; he jumped up too soon and thought he was bigger than the hype, unfortunately losing genuine music-lovers as fans in the process. The album sounds like a continuation and damn near mirrors what we’ve already heard in So Far Gone. But I see his formula, if it ain’t broke—don’t fix it. So Far Gone had a great following, so why stray from what’s successful? Thank Me Later isn’t full of anything truly unexpected, it’s mainly a relief that it’s a good listen-worthy album. Oh I know what’s missin this time around: no male vocals, i.e. Trey Songz, LOL.
*Fireworks *Karaoke *Show Me A Good Time *Fancy *Unforgettable *Thank Me Now

JamRock! I will quickly admit that I’m new to the reggae game, I’m just now getting acquainted with some of the classics from the Marley clan as a whole. My only knowledge of a good reggae song was Lauryn Hill’s remake duet with a voiceover of Bob Marley on “Turn The Lights Down Low”. Despite it all, it’s nonetheless a great timing for the summer and the fact that Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley have dropped a rap-duo album just recently (Distant Relatives). After seeing them perform live, which is now on the list for one of the best shows I’ve seen…ever, my eyes have been opened to the world of the Rastafari beat. Considering that Nas is going through some very personal hardships (bad divorce from Kelis) all his strength and animosity has been torn into each track, and ‘lil Marley’s love for the African mankind speaks volumes.
*Patience *Strong Will Continue *Count Your Blessings *Africa Must Wake Up

And when Lupe settles his managerial disputes with his label and we finally get our hands on LASERS, then I’ll fully dedicate my analysis of that greatness that is to come. I just can't do it justice as of now.
*I’m Beaming *What You Want

she would, he will, they can't

he cant

he won’t
she will
he wouldn’t
she shan’t
she wants
he still
couldn’t do it
it’s more than a few steps
to get to the right place
but it’s more than enough
if you’re tryin to erase
I try not to walk quickly
just in case
wanna be able to say
‘I felt it’, when it happened
instead of ‘don’t remember’
no going back, to back then
it’s been changed, but the same
all the time
so when it’s been chained and detained
it feels like a crime
but now you see why
she shan’t
she wants
he still
didn’t do it
he can’t
he won’t
she did
he wouldn’t
but let the tables turn
like they’re under the DJ’s fingers
and runnin ragged circles
was the only way to please her
be unknown to you,
playin the game was her demeanor
you’re left stranded
without a clue to find
proceeding with one choice
but second guessin your mind
then at dusk
the answers are clear to you
it never dawned
that this was real for her too
so in the end
she can’t
she won’t
he will
she wouldn’t
he shan’t
he wants
she still
couldn’t do it

(copyright by n*cole)